Chicken pasta

Pasta is an Italian dish. The common pasta forms are penne, spaghetti, lasagne and macaroni. Annie has been giving us pasta casseroles during the lockdown period, which my daughter loves. On our evening walks, she even asks Annie when her next lasagne is coming! So I was more or less coerced by her to get the recipe from Annie. This dish requires a little bit of preparation; in making the white sauce, cooking chicken with the vegetables and cooking the pasta. But once that is done, its quite easy; just mix everything in a baking pan and bake.

Ingredients are :

Minced chicken

Tomato pasta sauce - 2 tsp
Oregano - 1 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Chicken masala - 1/2 tsp
Red chili flakes - 1/2 tsp

Red capsicum
Yellow capsicum

Butter - 2 tsp
All-purpose flour - 2 tsp
Milk - 1 and 1/2 cup
Nutmeg - 1/2 tsp
Mozzarella cheese - 1 cup, grated

Pasta
Water
Salt
Olive oil - 1 Tbsp

Method :
Boil pasta in water, a pinch of salt and a drop of oil until al dente. Drain with a colander.

Pressure cook chicken with tomato paste, oregano and little water.

In a saucepan, add oil. Once it becomes hot, add the cooked chicken. Add ginger garlic paste, chicken masala and red chili flakes. Stir to mix.

Chop capsicum into small pieces. Add to the chicken. Add salt as required. Stir. Keep aside.

Now we have to make the white pasta sauce. In a saucepan, on low flame, add butter. Once it melts, add flour. Stir till it becomes light yellow. Add milk. Stir frequently on low heat for about 15 minutes, until it thickens into a sauce. Add nutmeg. Switch off the stove. Add grated mozzarella. Stir.

In a baking dish, mix cooked pasta and chicken. Pour white sauce on top. Add a sprinkle of grated mozzarella.

Preheat oven to 180C. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Recipe from Annie Joseph.