Chicken and Broccoli casserole

This recipe is from the book "A spoonful of country" and has been replicated umpteen times by anyone that knows me. It can be thrown together in a matter of minutes if you use precooked chicken and is a favourite of all those that try it.
I was telling a dinner guest one night about how much they should be looking forward to dinner because I was making this 'famous chicken casserole' and I must admit they were looking pretty sceptical. However, with timing that you couldn't pay for, my friend George came through the door with his nose into the scents from the kitchen and proclaimed "oh yum, are you making that awesome chicken casserole?!" Perfect. Thanks for the backup mate, dinner guest came to their own opinion of greatness about this recipe, but it was appreciated none the less!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium sized chicken
• 1 440g tin of cream of chicken soup, diluted with 1/2 tin of water
• 1/4 c mayonaise
• 1 Tblsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 250g broccoli, cut into small florets
• 125g grated cheese
• 1/4 c chopped parsley
• 1 c breadcrumbs
• butter

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Remove chicken flesh from from the bones. Combine the soup, water, mayonaise, lemon juice and curry powder in a small bowl. Put the broccoli on the bottom of a shallow casserole dish and layer the chicken pieces on top. Pour sauce over top.
Mix the cheese, breadcrumbs and parsley together and spread over the top. Dot with small pieces of butter and bake for about 30minutes.

TIPS:

• you can add extras to this recipe- I often put in onions and mushrooms
• you can make the recipe with raw chicken breast or thighs, just cook it a bit longer.

Enjoy xx
A