Magarına Bulli Fırında

INGREDIENTS 

For the Hellim Bechamel Sauce

65g Butter

65g Flour

800ml Milk (I use semi-skimmed, you can use whole)

1/2 tsp coarse black pepper

200g finely grated hellim / halloumi cheese

1 tbsp dried mint

2 eggs, beaten well

For the Pasta

8 chicken thighs 

1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 200ml boiling water

3/4 tsp salt 

300g bucatini 

50g finely grated hellim

1 tsp dried mint

METHOD 

Preheat the oven to 190C fan / 210C conventional. 

You need to make the bechamel first so that it has time to cool down (to whisk in the eggs later on). Melt the butter in a stainless steel pan on a medium heat, then whisk in the flour to form a roux (thick paste). Once the roux starts to bubble, add the milk at around 2ooml at a time l whisking constantly, adding more milk as and when the sauce thickens and bubbles. Once all the milk has been poured in and the sauce just starts to come up to a simmer, take off the heat, whisk in the hellim and dried mint and leave to one side until later.

Put chicken thighs into a large soup pan and cover with 3 litres cold water. Bring to boil, add the dissolved stock cube (optional), the salt and simmer on a low heat for 40-45 mins, then remove those chicken thighs to a plate. 

Bring the stock back up to the boil and add the pasta.

Cook for 10-12 mins, and whilst the pasta’s cooking, start to shred the chicken that was removed to the plate (removing fat / skin / bones). Drain the cooked pasta and pop it into a greased, deep baking dish (20cm x 26cm) then stir through all of the shredded chicken and 50g of the finely grated hellim and 1tsp of dried mint. 

Now back to the bechamel. It should now be cooled so whisk in the beaten eggs for a couple of minutes until they're fully amalgamated in the bechamel. Pour the bechamel over the pasta and chicken I  one even layer, and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and and a little darker in places, like the photo (I take my tray out halfway through and flip the dish round for a more even bake).