Simple Cream Pasta with Chicken

 

 I let Soong pick this one for dinner. His first reaction when we made it was “Wow, is that all?” It was quick and simple to make and probably a good dish to whip up after a long day at work.

This is another Donna Hay The Instant Cook recipe. She includes three variations at the bottom of this recipe, so we chose to make the Chicken & Pine Nuts version.

Ingredients for Chicken Variation – Serves 4

• 400g spaghetti (or tagliatelle – which is flat and wide pasta)
• 1 cup light cream
• 2 tsp grated lemon rind
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped basil leaves
• cracked black pepper
• grated Parmesan cheese to serve
• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

Method

1. Cook spaghetti in salted water. Once cooked, drain and return to the pan.
2. Add cream, lemon rind and juice, Parmesan, basil and pepper. Toss to combine
3. Toss 2 cups cooked shredded chicken and 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts through before serving

Salmon Variation: Don’t include chicken or pine nuts. Use 100 g baby spinach leaves and 100 g chopped smoked salmon instead.

Prosciutto and egg variation: Don’t include chicken, pine nuts or lemon rind. Replace basil with flat leaf parsley and stir through 3 egg yolks. Top with shreds of prosciutto to serve.

Was a quick meal, perfect for a night when I want to make something that seems fancy before rushing off to do other things. It was pretty average other wise. I enjoyed it, but I’ve had better as well.

Recipe says it serves 4, but they would be huge servings. We managed to have second helpings and fully pack two containers. I would say you could get six servings out of this meal.

Taste Rating: 2.5/5

Health Rating: 437 calories / 1,828 kilojoules per serve – I’ve calculated extra Parmesan cheese to serve in the calorie count as well.