Warm and comforting, our delicious tomatoey chicken pasta bake makes a brilliant quick fix dinner. Packed with hidden veggies, bursting with fresh Italian-inspired flavours and with a crispy golden topping, it’s hard to think of a reason why you wouldn’t fall head over heels for this dish.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
1
Bell Pepper
½
Chicken Stock Powder
200
Rigatoni Pasta
½
Finely Chopped Tomatoes with Onion and Garlic
30
Tomato Puree
112.5
Reduced Fat Creme Fraiche
1
Flat Leaf Parsley
210
Diced Chicken Thigh
1
Dried Oregano
1
Courgette
(May contain Celery)
40
Grated Hard Italian Style Cheese
(Contains Milk, Egg)
75
Water for the Sauce
Preheat your oven to 200°C and put your kettle on to boil. Remove the top and bottom from the courgette, cut lengthways into 1cm strips then chop into chunks. (1cm is ideal). Halve, then remove the core from the red pepper and cut into ½cm slices. Halve the slices widthways. Roughly chop the parsley (discard the stalks).
Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces, the dried oregano, a pinch of salt and pepper. Brown on all sides, about 4-5 mins. In the meantime, dissolve the chicken stock pot in the boiling water (see ingredients for amount) in a measuring jug. Put a large saucepan of water with a pinch of salt on to boil for the pasta.
Pour the chicken stock and finely chopped tomatoes with garlic and onion into the pan and stir in the tomato purée, pepper and courgette. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium until the mixture is simmering away. Cook until the sauce is thick and tomatoey and the veggies are soft, stirring occasionally, about 12-15 mins. TIP: The chicken is cooked when it is no longer pink in the middle.
Meanwhile, pop the pasta into the pan of boiling water and cook for 11 mins. When the pasta is cooked, drain in a colander and return to the pan. Mix in the crème fraîche and season with a another pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper.
Add half the parsley to the chicken and veggies and stir through. Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish and top with the pasta. Cover with the hard Italian cheese and pop on the top shelf of your oven. Bake until the top is golden and a little crunchy at the edges, 10 mins.
Serve the chicken pasta bake in bowls and finish with a sprinkling of the remaining parsley. Enjoy!