Creamy chicken pasta
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 4
The secret ingredient in this creamy chicken pasta recipe is that shop-bought garlic and herb soft cheese you might have on standby in the fridge. Make sure to use a full-fat variety so the sauce doesn’t split. The creamy texture and flavour cuts out the need for lots of separate ingredients.
Each serving provides 502 kcal, 39g protein, 27g carbohydrate (of which 2g sugars), 25.9g fat (of which 11.5g saturates), 1.4g fibre and 0.69g salt.
Ingredients
- 350g/12oz short pasta, such as penne or fusilli
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 leek, thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 2 chicken breast fillets, thinly sliced
- 150g/5½oz leafy greens (such as kale, cavolo nero or chard), chopped
- 150g/5½oz full-fat garlic and herb cream cheese
- 50g/1¾oz Parmesan, grated
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Cook the pasta in a saucepan of boiling water until just tender. Drain and reserve 150ml/5fl oz cooking water.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the leek, garlic and chicken for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add the greens and season really well with salt and pepper. Cook for a further 5 minutes to soften the greens.
Add the garlicky cream cheese to the pan and stir to melt in. Slowly add the reserved pasta water, stirring to combine (you might not need all the water), and bring to a bubble.
Add 35g/1¼oz of the Parmesan and mix. Once it's melted in, add the pasta and warm through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Divide between four plates and serve topped with the remaining Parmesan.
Recipe tips
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave until piping hot throughout. Cream cheese doesn't freeze well so we don't recommend freezing this recipe.
Low-fat cream cheese is more prone to splitting (where the fat separates causing a grainy, curdled texture) which is why we have used full-fat cream cheese. If you want to use a low-fat product take care when heating: heat gently and avoid rapid changes in temperature. If it does split, don't worry it's still safe to eat, it's just the texture won't be as nice.
Chicken thighs can be used instead of breast.
