Chicken And Vegetable Pasta One Pot

A super simple, rustic, budget friendly and flavoursome pasta dish. The simplicity of this recipe makes it a good midweek meal, add a little extra fluid, and a bit of spice, and it makes an excellent winter warmer.

You will need:

400g fusilli/penne or similar pasta

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 large onion

2 medium carrots, roughly chopped

2 sticks celery, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, roughly chopped

1 tin of tomatoes

A small handful of fresh sage, finely chopped

160g good quality cheese, grated

100g spinach

Pinch of salt and pepper

Method:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes less than the recommended cooking time.

2. Drain the pasta, retaining some of the cooking liquid, in case you need to thin the sauce later, and set aside.

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan with a lid, add the onions and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.

4. Add the carrots, celery, garlic and chicken to the pan, cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

5. Add the tomatoes and sage, stir thoroughly, bring the boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

6. Add the pasta, spinach and cheese, stir until the spinach wilts, season to taste, put the lid on the pan, remove from the heat and allow it to stand for about 5 minutes.

Notes:

I wrote this recipe whilst locked down, due to covid-19, so my access to fresh veg etc. was slightly limited. To really ramp up the veg content, and give it a little more flavour, add a green pepper and a head of broccoli.