Most weeks we will have a roast dinner on a Sunday. It’s kind of a little family tradition we now have. Sunday dinner is the time we get to spend a little time with each other and enjoy a more elaborate meal. It also provides us with some leftover meat to use up during the week. This makes week day meals that little bit easier to plan and organise. Jamie Oliver’s Leftover chicken cannelloni recipe is one of our fave leftover chicken recipes.

Jamie Oliver’s Leftover chicken cannelloni recipe

This is another recipe we use a lot from Jamie Olivers Money Saving Meals book. Although this recipe is rather fiddly to make, it definitely makes up for it in flavour. I would set aside plenty of time to put it together. This will realistically take you around 1 hour minutes to prepare and a further 30 minutes to cook. This recipe is made up with cold leftover roast chicken and is full of veggies and good stuff.

The original recipe included chilli flakes although I leave them out as my little girl isn’t a fan of spicy foods. This would also make it suitable for much younger pallets.

Ingredients

150g leftover chicken (cooked) finely chopped
500g frozen spinach
1 onion finely chopped
1tbsp oil
2tbsp plain flour
200ml semi skimmed milk
1/2 bunch of basil (I used 15g of ready chopped frozen basil)
60g grated mature cheese
16 cannelloni tubes
2 cans chopped tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic chopped or crushed
salt and pepper to season
Chilli flakes (optional)

Method

Soften the onion in a little oil. Add the spinach, then pop the lid on and let it defrost for around 10 minutes. Add in the flour, stir to combine. Gradually add the milk, stirring continuously until you have a creamy sauce. Add the chicken, half the basil and 30g of cheese. Stir well to combine.
Fill the cannelloni tubes with the spinach mixture. You can use a teaspoon to do this or a piping bag. I used a sandwich bag with the corner cut off instead. This is the fiddly part! Then layer your tubes in a large baking dish.
Cook the garlic and the other half of the basil in a little oil. Add in the chilli flakes if using. Then add in the chopped tomatoes and half a cans worth of water. Bring to the boil for a couple of minutes. Season, then pour over your cannelloni tubes. Make sure the tomato sauce is distributed evenly and grate over the remaining cheese. Bake for around 30 minutes until golden and pasta is cooked.

Other recipes that use up leftover chicken include chicken fajitas, chicken stock, filo pie and chicken stew.