Friday, November 08, 2019

On the MENU this week. Chicken Tomato & Feta Pasta

An easy Sunday evening supper, most of which you can prepare in advance.  Lynne makes the sauce in the morning, then heats it when ready to serve and stirs in the pasta, the spinach and the feta. She also subscribes to the Chef Nick Stellino’s method of cooking with garlic. No fine chopping or pulping of garlic for this recipe, just add nice chunky pea sized pieces, which cook down to sweet nuggets in the sauce.   You could omit the chicken and the chicken stock if you are vegetarian, but the flavour might need enhancing.  If your tomatoes are a little tart, add a spoonful of sugar.  And if you like to spice things up, add a few chilli flakes.   If you don’t use or have passata, you can use a tin of chopped tomatoes

1 T olive oil – ½ an onion, finely chopped – 2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped – 1 cup tomato passata – 1 cup chicken stock – 4 deboned and skinned chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces – 12 baby tomatoes, halved – 4 cups of dry penne or lumache pasta – 200 baby spinach – 100g crumbled feta cheese
In a large chafing dish fry the onion in the olive oil until transparent, then add the garlic and fry for another minute or two, do not brown.  Add the chicken pieces and fry till seared on all sides.    Add the tomato passata and fry for 3 minutes stirring continuously. Then add the stock and the baby tomatoes & bring to a gentle simmer, cover with a lid and leave to cook gently for half an hour.  At this point you can put the sauce aside until you are ready to use it
Boil your pasta in lots of boiling salted water until just al dente. Drain and add to the sauce.  Stir in the spinach and the feta cheese and mix well.  Check seasoning and serve

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