Chicken and mushrooms pasta

Looking for ways with pasta without the usual ground red meat, bacon, sausages and everything fatty in thick red sauce? Ditch the red meat and use chicken and vegetables instead. In lieu of the usual tomato-based red sauce, toss the hot pasta with pesto. Home made, if possible. Kids might balk at the idea at first but, given time and with lots of encouragement, they can learn about new ways to enjoy their pasta.

My younger daughter, Alex, woke me up on Saturday morning with an announcement that she wanted pasta for lunch. With pesto, she said, and chicken. I said, sure, and figured I might as well go all the way and add mushrooms and a medley of vegetables too. She helped with the cooking, grated the cheese, cut the mushrooms and tomatoes, and did some stirring, then it was on to a great lunch. Too bad the man of the house was out at work and had to miss the spaghetti with chicken, brown button mushrooms, vegetables and pesto.

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients :

2 chicken quarters, about 700 grams, boiled in salted water, deboned and cut into chunks
225 g. of pasta (spaghetti, fettucine or whatever shape you prefer)
1/4 c. (or more) of pesto
1 large or two medium-sized bell peppers, cored, seeds removed and diced
3 to 4 tomatoes, diced
2 to 3 eggplants, diced
2 finger chilis, thinly sliced
1 large onion, diced
button mushrooms, brown or white, about 200 grams (yes, I used a lot more than what you see in the photo), cut into quarters
4 to 6 tbsps. of olive oil
a sprig of fresh basil, leaves sliced thinly
100 g. of sharp cheddar (parmesan, if you prefer), cheese grated
salt and pepper

(No garlic in the list because the pesto already contains a lot of garlic. If you’re using store-bought pesto and you feel there isn’t enough garlic in it, you can always mince a few cloves and add them to the rest of the vegetables.)

Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and toss with the pesto. If, like me, you prefer to make your own pesto rather than use the store-bought kind, click here to learn how easy it is to make pesto at home.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan (large, because you’ll add the pasta afterwards and the pan should be large enough for you to be able to toss everything together). Add the eggplants (they take longest to cook), cook until they start to soften then add the rest of the vegetables. Cook, stirring, for about a minute then add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pasta and toss until everything is heated through.

Now, the cheese. Here’s where you’ll have to make a decision. You can add the cheese (reserving some for garnish) to the pasta and vegetables before tossing them together or you can simply serve the cheese on the side and everyone can just add as much or as little cheese as they want. The thing is, adding grated cheese to pan makes the sauce a bit thicker. The cheese melts right there, makes everything sticky and it’s really, really nice. But some people have issues with cheese so it really depends on who’s eating the pasta dish.

The basil leaves… They aren’t just for garnish although I must admit that visible greens on top of the pasta give the dish a more festive appearance. You might think that there has to be enough basil flavor and aroma in the pesto but, honestly, fresh basil adds so much more depth to the cooked dish.

And there’s the cooked spaghetti with chicken, brown button mushrooms, vegetables and pesto — filling without the bloated feeling, flavorful and aromatic and simply delicious!

You might want to try these too!

1. Chicken, pesto and yogurt salad
2. Spaghetti with longganisa (sausage) meatballs
3. Cooking with leftover turkey
4. Chicken and spring garlic
5. Penne with portobello mushrooms
6. Portobello mushrooms
7. Cheese-topped buttered vegetables
8. Fettuccine Bolognese
9. (Vietnamese style) Honey ginger chicken
10. Eryngii mushrooms

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