A creamy pasta dish for tomato lovers, with bites of fried chicken and spinach…
I used to always mention before how much my girls weren’t very fond of pasta. Why wouldn’t I be sad? After all, pasta is the easiest dish you can make when you aren’t in a mood to cook, but still want something home made. During my initial years of blogging, anything to do with pasta was only accepted by HD and B with open hands, and my girls would have their nose up in the air. But of late, I must say during the lockdown times, my girls started eating more of pasta and loving it as well. That has actually helped me decide on a “pasta once every two weeks” kind of a schedule. Hehe…
Once when we were back from a staycation a couple of years ago, we stopped by a cafe for lunch. One of the dish they had on the menu was a “pink pasta”. As usual, the girls were a little intrigued so we ordered for it. The pasta that arrived was tossed in a sauce which tasted of tomatoes and cream, and was topped with slices of roast chicken and gratings of parmesan cheese. The girls really enjoyed it and I had put a mental note to try it at home. My problem is my mental notes seem to get erased faster than I would love it to. So it was conveniently forgotten till I saw something similar on an Instagram video and quickly got into action.
The sauce is a mix of passatta and cream. I have used packed tomato paste plus some tomato puree (I used Pomi – you can freshly puree tomatoes and use it). The herbs and spices used are what you would use regularly in a pasta dish. I cooked the chicken and added it back at the end. I have only used spinach as my green here but I would have definitely loved to add a box of mushrooms and some colorful capsicum strips, if my girls would eat it. 😕 It is totally a rich and creamy dish, that can be made when you want something comforting or even when you want to serve guests something different. I know the season of having guests isn’t very much around still, but then let’s focus on the future… 😉 Off to this recipe…
Creamy Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- FOR CHICKEN:
- 500 gm chicken breast
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp cayenne powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Salt to taste
- FOR PASTA:
- 400 gm pack pasta
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 20 gm butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion minced (optional)
- 1 bunch spinach chopped
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 125 gm pack tomato paste
- 1/4 cup tomato puree
- 170 gm pack thick cream
- A pinch of sugar
- 2 chicken stock cube
- Mozarella cheese as required
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta till el dente. Drain and set aside. Reserve the water.
- Cut the chicken into cubes. Toss in the paprika, cayenne, garlic powders and salt to taste till well coated.
- In a saucepan, heat half the olive oil and melt half the butter. Add the chicken and cook till done. Drain and set aside.
- Now add the remaining oil and butter. Add the garlic and fry. Add in the onion, if using and saute till wilted.
- Add the spinach with some salt and cook till just wilted.
- Add in the paprika, Italian seasoning, the tomato paste, puree, cream and sugar and mix well. Allow it to simmer for five minutes or till raw taste of the paste is gone.
- Add the stock cube and some of the pasta water. Bring to boil. Adjust seasoning.
- Add in the cooked pasta and the chicken and toss. Add more water if required. Cook on low flame for five minutes.
- Add the mozarella cheese and toss well. Serve hot!
Notes
The sugar helps to tone down the tartness of the tomato, so use accordingly.
Add more vegetables - like mushrooms and capsicum. Cook them slightly just before adding the spinach.