Chicken Pasta Bake

From: https://www.dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk/chicken-pasta-bake/

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 2x 7-9oz/200-250g Chicken Breasts (brought close to room temp)
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp EACH: Dried Parsley, Dried Basil
  • 1/2 tsp EACH: Garlic Powder, Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Pasta

  • 12oz / 350g Penne (or other short cut pasta)
  • 4 cups / 1litre/kg Tomato Passata (pureed tomatoes in US)
  • 1 small bunch Fresh Parsley, approx 1/4cup finely diced (can sub fresh basil or mix of both)
  • 1 cup / 125g Sun Dried Tomatoes, finely diced
  • 1/3 cup / 30g freshly grated Parmesan
  • 1 tbsp Sun Dried Tomato Oil (sub olive oil)
  • 1 medium Onion, finely diced
  • 2 fat cloves of Garlic, minced/finely diced
  • 1/2 tsp Sugar, or to taste
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes, or to spice preference
  • Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

Pasta Bake

  • 2x 4.5oz/125g balls of Fresh Mozzarella, sliced into thin rounds
  • 1/2 cup Basil Pesto or enough to drizzle over top
  • 2/3 cup / 60g freshly grated Parmesan

Instructions

  1. Prep Chicken: Butterfly chicken breasts right through the centre to make 4 even sized breasts. Coat in olive oil, dried basil & parsley, garlic powder and salt & pepper.
  2. Cook Chicken: Place in a frying pan over medium high heat and fry both sides until lightly charred, with the centre white all the way through. Place to one side and allow to rest, then slice into thin strips when needed.
  3. Sauce: In the same pan turn heat to a medium and add in sun dried tomato oil (or olive oil). Add diced onion and fry until it softens/begins to brown, then add in sun dried tomatoes & garlic and fry for another couple of minutes. Pour in passata then add parsley, chilli flakes, sugar, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer on low heat for 15-20mins until it begins to thicken slightly. This is also important to allow the flavours to marry together.
  4. Pasta: Add pasta to a large pot of heavily salted water and cook until al dente. You want it still a little hard as it'll continue cooking in the pasta bake. Scoop out 1/3cup/80ml of the starchy pasta water just before draining.
  5. Combine: Add drained pasta to sauce and pour in 1/3/cup/80ml starchy pasta water. Add sliced chicken and 1/3cup/30g parmesan and stir to combine. Pour into a baking dish a level out with a wooden spoon.
  6. Pasta Bake: Drizzle over pesto (no need to spread it, just dot it around). Add mozzarella slices to cover then evenly sprinkle over 2/3cup/60g parmesan. Pop in the oven at 200C/390F for 20-25mins or until golden and bubbly.