Easy chicken and chorizo pasta bake
For big flavours on a budget try this chicken and chorizo pasta bake. Loaded with spicy chorizo, it’s a comforting and low-effort dinner that will become a mid-week favourite.
Each serving provides 762 kcal, 54g protein, 71g carbohydrates (of which 10.5g sugars), 27.5g fat (of which 14.5g saturates), 7g fibre and 2.1g salt.
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts, skinless
- 340g/11¾oz fusilli (or other short pasta)
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 100g/3½oz chorizo (from a ring), thinly sliced
- 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
- ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
- ¼ tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 600g/1lb 5oz tinned chopped tomatoes (1½ tins)
- splash white wine (optional)
- 2 tbsp double cream
- 250g/9oz mozzarella
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the chicken. Reduce the heat to medium–low and gently poach the chicken for 10–15 minutes, or until just cooked through. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool.
Bring a clean saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Cook for just 10 minutes, or until the shapes are just softened but still have a lot of bite. Drain thoroughly.
Add the onion and chorizo to a large casserole (or an ovenproof frying pan) set over a medium–high heat and fry for 7–8 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the garlic, followed by the chilli flakes and paprika and cook for a minute until the garlic is aromatic.
Add the tomatoes, washing out the residual tomato juices from each tin with the wine (or water if not using wine). Stir the tomatoes into the sauce and leave to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream. Season with salt and pepper.
Chop the cooked chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks and stir into the sauce along with the pasta.
Tear the mozzarella and scatter over the top of the pasta. Finish with more black pepper and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, covering the dish with foil or a lid about halfway through, once the cheese is brown and bubbling.
Recipe tips
To freeze, after the stage of adding the cheese, cover with cling film and allow to cool. Place in the freezer. To cook from frozen, add an extra 10–15 minutes to the baking time.
If you don't have a casserole or oven-safe frying pan, cook the sauce in a regular frying pan or a large saucepan and tip into a baking dish along with the chicken and pasta in step 6.
Chorizo can be bought in rings, deli slices and cooking chorizo. A chorizo ring is normally the cheapest option and that's what is used here, but cooking chorizo would also be fine.
If you have any leftover roast chicken, you can use that instead of the chicken breasts. Just add it in step 6.