Chicken and Mushroom Pasta
- Makes4 servings
Photo: iStockphoto
You can save money by buying chicken with the bone and skin intact and do the boning and skinning yourself. It's a little more work, but quite a bit cheaper, and you'll learn a lot about chicken anatomy.
Ingredients
500 g skinless, boneless chicken breasts, or thighs (or about 1 kg with bones and skin)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 540-mL can stewed tomatoes
1 cup water
1 tsp dried basil, (or 1 tbsp chopped basil)
2 cups smallish pasta, (shells, bow ties, fusilli, elbows)
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
Instructions
If you're starting with boneless chicken, cut the chicken breasts or thighs into (more or less) ½ in. (1 cm) pieces. If you're deboning it, remove the bones and skin, then cut the meat into pieces (as above). Discard skin and bones.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet, add the chicken pieces and cook over medium high until the meat is no longer pink - about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet, leaving as much of the oil in the pan as possible.
Add the onion and mushrooms to the skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Pour in the stewed tomatoes, water and basil; bring to a boil. Add the (uncooked) pasta, cover with a lid and cook over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes until the pasta is done, stirring once in a while.
Return the chicken to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is completely heated through. Season with salt and pepper.