Recipe: Chicken Pasta Med

My first recipe is what I call “Chicken Pasta Med”

What I love about this is that you really can adapt it to whatever vegetables are in your fridge, and it will still taste great. I love tweaking recipes once I have a basic one, and as some people love lots of spice, or garlic or chilli, being able to tweak it then makes it your own “signature dish”.

I have a couple of tips before you start which are in these "Tip" postings– “For Garlic Heads” and “Whole Parmesan is Best”. I should also point out that I use a Fan Assisted electric oven, so you may want to look up conversions from my recipes’ temperatures in degrees Centigrade to Gas Mark numbers or to degrees Fahrenheit – here’s a link that should be useful – Oven Temperatures


Anyway here goes, my family are garlic heads so remember that you can tweak to whatever your tastes are.

Preheat oven to medium, remember this means something different depending on the type of oven that you have.

Ingredients for 2 servings

Olive oil or olive oil spray
150 grams ridged pasta – preferably whole wheat – I like Penne Rigate
(the term rigate, means that that the pasta has a ridged surface rather than smooth.)
Red onion
Cherry tomatoes or tomatoes quartered
1 courgette, sliced
Red, green or any capsicum (or bell pepper)
Tomato puree – in a tube
Garlic (see my posting – “For Garlic Heads”)
Black pepper, ground or freshly grinded
Salt to taste.
220 grams of mini-chicken breast or 1 chicken breast or thigh meat
Basil, optional
Parmesan (or other cheese) optional

Recipe instructions

Put all vegetables in a bowl, add chopped garlic and black pepper, salt and a drizzle of olive oil or spray.
Mix until all coated and then place on an oven tray, and put in oven on a middle shelf for about 20-25 minutes. Turn half-way through cooking.

Meanwhile, put a tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan on a low heat add crushed garlic (fresh or frozen) and let it infuse.

Cut chicken into small slices or bite-sized pieces.

After vegetables have been in oven 10 minutes put pasta on if whole wheat, because it takes longer to cook, or if using ordinary pasta wait 15 minutes.

Start cooking chicken in olive oil and garlic on a low heat, add one table spoon of tomato puree, cook slowly, and add salt and black pepper - seasoning to taste.

When pasta is cooked, drain, add to frying pan with chicken, stir until all coated then take vegetables out of oven, gently stir in, and if using Basil, add now.

Once all mixed, serve, and of course if like us you like Parmigiano Reggiano (or other firm cheeses), grate plenty on top and enjoy!

M