Ultimate Chicken Pasta

I LOVE this pasta recipe – it’s Italian food with a desi twist and the recipe is kinda similar to the viral Gigi Hadid Tik-Tok pasta. Super delicious and flavourful. Penne pasta allows the sauce to get in the middle for the ultimate bite.

The recipe is based on a Pakistani YouTube channel Cook with Saima and the original video is here. Just see the comment section if you need any more convincing about the deliciousness of the recipe. The recipe uses very basic ingredients and one of the best things about this is that you don’t need any onions!

Excuse the photos – I didn’t get a great one of the end result; was too busy eating!

You will need

  • 7 medium size tomatoes
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed (or 1 Tbsp)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup oil
  • 1 Tbsp oregano
  • 1 Tbsp red chilli flakes (add less if you can’t handle spice)
  • 1 Tbsp salt (more if needed to taste)
  • 500 g boneless chicken, cut up into small cubes
  • 1 or 1.5 capsicum (ideally red for the aesthetics)
  • Mushrooms (optional)
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 1/2 cup Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese
  • 1.5 cups cream (cooking cream if you are in the UAE)
  • Penne pasta

Follow these simple steps

  1. Boil a large pot of water
  2. Once boiling, put the tomatoes in for a few minutes so that the skin becomes loose.
  3. Take the tomatoes out and peel the skins, keep the water and pot as it can be used to cook the pasta later
  4. Put tomatoes in a blender to make puree. Note that actual puree cooks out the water of the blended tomatoes, but we don’t need to do that for this recipe as we’ll reduce the liquid as part of the pasta sauce
  5. Put the butter into a large saucepan and turn it on to medium/high heat
  6. Add garlic and fry it for 2 minutes
  7. Add the blended tomatoes (warning – the water content will cause some sparks so turn the heat down first or step away)
  8. Add the chicken stock cube, chilli flakes and salt to the pot
  9. Keep cooking the mixture on medium heat until the tomatoes reduce right down. To avoid a mess, cover 2/3 of the pot of with a lid and let the steam escape from one side. This may take 15-20 minutes. The oil and water should separate around the sides
  10. Add the boneless chicken and keep stirring for a few minutes until cooked through
  11. Add the capsicum and mushrooms and let it cook for a few minutes
  12. Add the cream and oregano and stir through. Let the mixture come to a boil for a few minutes
  13. Add the cheese and let it melt through the mixture
  14. Serve in the pot with some extra cheese on the side for those who want more