Ingredients

2/3 cup Cream Sauce (page 164), defrosted if frozen

　　1 tablespoon or more chicken broth

　　1 tablespoon dry sherry

　　1/2 bunch broccolini

　　Salt and freshly ground pepper

　　3 tablespoons freshly grated

　　Parmesan cheese

　　3 slices cooked chicken breast, plus several scraps

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375°.

　　

Step 2

Warm the cream sauce slowly, beat it thoroughly, and thin it with the broth and sherry until it is the consistency of a medium-thick soup.

　　

Step 3

Using a vegetable peeler, shave off the outer skin from the broccolini stems. Cut each whole branch in thirds. Put the stem pieces in a steamer basket set over boiling water, and steam for 2 minutes; then add the florets, and steam another 2 minutes.

　　

Step 4

Spread the broccolini on the bottom of a single-serving shallow gratin dish about 6 inches in diameter. Salt and pepper lightly, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of the cream sauce over it, and sprinkle on 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan. Lay the chicken pieces on top, and tuck in a few extra scraps around the edge. Salt and pepper lightly again, and spread the remaining sauce over the top. Sprinkle on the rest of the cheese, bake for 25 minutes, then run under the broiler just long enough to brown the top.

　　The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. Copyright © 2009 by Judith Jones. Published by Knopf. All Rights Reserved.Judith Jones is senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf. She is the author of The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food and the coauthor with Evan Jones (her late husband) of three books: The Book of Bread; Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!; and The Book of New New England Cookery. She also collaborated with Angus Cameron on The L. L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook, and has contributed to Vogue, Saveur, and Gourmet magazines. In 2006, she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in New York City and Vermont.