If you are looking for a quick, easy and nutritious meal look no further than this baked chicken pasta. I suggest serving with a side salad or fresh veggies to make it a balanced meal. I used whole wheat pasta, you could easily substitute this with a legume based pasta to increase the protein content. If you are vegetarian you could omit the chicken and opt for a vegetarian meat alternative, beans or lentils instead.
Ingredients:
200g pasta of choice
1 lb ground chicken
1 jar favourite marinara sauce (or use ~2 cups of homemade marinara sauce if you prefer)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup baby tomatoes, chopped in half
1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425F. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish by spraying with cooking oil.
- Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil. Once water is boiling, add pasta and cook pasta. (I suggest cutting down the cooking time by 2 minutes so the pasta doesn’t overcook when its baked in the oven).
- While pasta cooks, add the chicken into a frying pan and cook until browned. Remove from heat once cooked.
- Heat olive oil in a medium sized saucepan. Add in chopped onion and cook until translucent and fragrant. Add in garlic and sauté for about 1 minute. Add in remainder of vegetables (pepper, tomato, broccoli) and cook for ~3 minutes.
- Add in tomato sauce, pasta, chicken to the vegetables and stir until combined. Add in fresh basil and stir.
- Add mixture into baking pan. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven until cheese is melted and golden brown ~15 minutes.
I suggest trying to include different vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, squash, mushrooms, cauliflower in addition to or to replace the vegetables listed in the recipe.
