Whipped ricotta one pot chicken pasta

Whipped ricotta one pot chicken pasta

Recipe video above. Meet your new favourite one-pot recipe! I'm sharing this as a guest-worthy dish based on a simple mid-week recipe. It's quite amazing how just a little dollop of creamy ricotta can transform a regular bowl of pasta into something you'd expect to get at a rustic trattoria! Love how it melts into a flood of creamy goodness on your hot bowl of pasta - thicker than cream, and much lower fat.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Main

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: Chicken Pasta Bake, One Pot Pasta, whipped ricotta

Servings: - 5 people

Calories: 647cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

Chicken:

500g/1 lb chicken thigh fillets , cut into small bite size pieces (or breast or tenderloin)
1/2 tsp cooking salt/kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Pasta:

220g/ 7 oz jar sun-dried tomato stripes in oil , drained (RESERVE OIL) (Note 1)
3 tbsp oil from the sun dried tomato jar
1 small onion , finely diced
2 garlic cloves , finely minced
1 tbsp tomato paste (ok if you don't have)
1/4 cup dry white wine , optional (Note 2)
400g/14 oz canned crushed tomato
350g / 12oz fusilli pasta (spirals) , penne, ziti, macaroni, small shells or similar, uncooked
1 litre / 4 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium (sub water plus 1/2 tsp salt)
1/4 tsp cooking salt/kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup basil leaves , roughly chopped (can survive without), plus extra for garnish

Whipped ricotta:

1/2 cup ricotta (Paesanella is my preferred brand), full fat
4 tbsp milk , preferably full fat
1/4 cup (packed) finely grated parmesan , sub pinch of salt

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Whipped ricotta - Put the ingredients in a bowl. Whisk vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds until it becomes the texture of softly whipped cream. Add milk to loosen, if needed.
Seal chicken - Heat sun dried tomato oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat. Add the chicken. sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes until the outside is sealed but the inside is still raw. Remove with slotted spoon into a bowl.
Sauté - In the same pot, add the onion and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the tomato paste and oil drained sun dried tomatoes (reserve any remaining oil for another use). Cook for 1 minute.
Deglaze - Add white wine and let it simmer rapidly for 1 - 2 minutes, stirring regularly, until mostly evaporated.
Cooking liquid - Add pasta and cooked chicken along with any juices accumulated in the bowl. Stir to coat in all the tasty flavours. Add the stock, canned tomato, salt and pepper.
Cook 15 minutes - Give it a good stir, let it come to a boil then lower the heat to medium high so it's simmering rapidly but not boiling like crazy. Cook for 15 minutes (no lid), stirring every 2 minutes or so at first then more regularly towards the end, so the base doesn't catch. Lower the heat a touch towards the end, if needed.
How to tell it's done - Most of the liquid should be absorbed and the pasta should be just cooked (al dente), though still a little soupy (that's good, it gets absorbed quickly while serving). Stir in the basil.
Serve - Transfer into a serving bowl or divide between bowls. Dollop the whipped ricotta on top then randomly smear (or let everyone do that themselves), it will get all melty. Dig in!

Notes

Serves 4 hearty appetites or 5 regular people.

1. Sun dried tomatoes - Adds a great pop of flavour into the sauce plus the chicken gets free flavour by using the oil from the jar to cook it. Recommend getting strips to save yourself from chopping. Substitute - compensate with olives, capers or something similar that's a bit briny.

Jar size - I use all the sun dried tomatoes in a 220g/7oz jar which is actually 120g/4oz sun dried tomatoes and 100g/3 oz oil (we use 45ml/3 tbsp for cooking). If you have a larger jar or sun dried tomatoes not in oil, use 120g /4 oz of sun dried tomatoes which is 1 cup tightly packed.

2. Wine - I use Chardonnay, though anything not too woody or sweet will work find here, else leftover champagne (flat is fine!), red wine or rose. Non alcoholic - just leave it out.

Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Loosen with a touch of water. Pasta will freeze ok, but not the whipped ricotta.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings.

Nutrition