This Chicken Pasta Bake is a simple dish to throw together. I often make this one in advance and keep it in the refrigerator until I am ready to cook it. This makes it a fantastic dinner to prepare the night before a busy day. You know those crazy days when you feel like you’ve been running all day and the last thing you want to do is cook dinner.
It’s super easy to put this dish together too. Start by making a sauce from onions, garlic, chili and tomatoes. I always add a spoonful of sugar to the sauce to remove any sharpness from the tomatoes. Stir through the mascarpone. Cook chicken in a pan and boil pasta. Assemble the pasta bake and top with cheese. Bake in the oven until golden and bubbling. Enjoy with a green salad!
To make Chicken Pasta Bake, you will need the following ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 430 °F.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté a finely chopped onion gently in the oil for 10-12 minutes. Add 2 crushed garlic cloves and ¼ teaspoon of chili. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
Add two cans of tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Stir 6 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese through the tomato sauce.
In a separate frying pan, heat a tablespoon of oil. Season the chicken on both sides and fry for 5-7 minutes, turning halfway through until the chicken is cooked through.
Follow the package directions to cook the pasta. Drain and toss with a drizzle of oil. Transfer the cooked penne to a medium sized baking dish.
Add the cooked chicken to the pasta and pour over the tomato sauce. Stir well to combine and top with cheeses and parsley.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until it is golden on top and bubbling.
Serve immediately, garnished with parsley and green salad on the side.
This Chicken Pasta Bake recipe is one of my favorite quick dinners. Try it soon and make sure you tag your pasta bakes with the #cookmerecipes hashtag.
