This is a really easy chicken pasta recipe with more vegetables than Scotch mist, whatever that means. There are a few options you can go for to change it up a little bit to give it a barbeque twist or to make it a bit spicy, you can even boost up the spice factor with a chilli and serve it with rice to change it from a standard chicken pasta recipe into more of a Mexican meal, which is pretty tasty with tortilla chips or in a taco shell. All the details for each of the variants are below in the recipe instructions, so let us know how you get on.
Chicken pasta ingredients (serves 2):
• 350g chicken cut into smallish chunks
• 1 tin borlotti beans (change for kidney, pinto or black eyed beans if you want to go for the Mexican option)
• 2 garlic cloves (chopped finely)
• 1 small onion (chopped into small chunks)
• 1 red pepper sliced into chunks
• 1 tablespoon basil (fresh or dried – change for coriander for the Mexican alternative)
• 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
• 1 table spoon butter
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 300g pasta (change for plain rice for the Mexican option)
• Shavings of Parmesan cheese (change for cheddar or manchego for the Mexican option)
• Salt and pepper
Chicken pasta recipe:
1. Fry the chicken with a good helping of salt and pepper in the olive oil until all parts of the chicken have turned white.
2. Add the chopped onion and cook until clear before adding the pepper and garlic and fry for a few minutes more.
3. Cover in the basil and mixed herbs, add the borlotti beans and mix together with the tin of tomatoes. If you’re going for the Mexican version of the dish, substitute the basil for coriander and the borlotti for kidney, pinto or black eyed beans.
4. It’s at this point that you have a choice of where to go with this chicken pasta recipe in terms of heat. Add two tablespoons of barbecue sauce for a BBQ pasta dish, half a tablespoon of chilli powder for more of an arrabiata taste, half a glass of red wine for more of a refined Italian dish or a whole tablespoon of chilli powder with 1 finely chopped red chilli finely to turn the chicken pasta recipe into a Mexican feast.
5. While the sauce is simmering gently, cook the pasta (or rice) with a pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Serve with shavings of Parmesan, a nice Chianti and a hot date. Woof! Sorry, got carried away with the new Rik Mayall Bombardier adverts (we miss you Rik). For Mexican, you should throw on some grated cheddar or manchego and grab a cervesa and a tequila chaser. Ayiyiyiyiyi!
As chicken pasta recipes go, it doesn’t get much more simple than this, but the results are ace every time.
