Midweek Meals: Try this 30-minute Mexican chicken fajita pasta bake tonight
A guaranteed hit with the whole family, serve with a green salad and some garlic bread
Servings
4
Preparation Time
5 mins
Cooking Time
25 mins
Total Time
30 mins
Course
Main
Cuisine
Italian
Ingredients
- 300g fusilli or penne pasta
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced thinly
- 2 red peppers, sliced thinly
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ smoked paprika
- 1 tsp jalapeno peppers, finely chopped plus 2 tsp vinegar from the jar of jalapeno peppers (optional)
- 450ml tomato passata
- Salt and pepper
- 100g mozzarella cheese, grated
Method
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook your pasta for five minutes. Drain, reserving half a mug of cooking water and toss with olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a large pan, fry the chicken, onion and peppers until the vegetables are soft and the chicken is almost cooked through. Add the spices and cook for a minute until they are fragrant.
- Add the garlic, and if using, the jalapeno peppers and vinegar. Stir in the passata and bring to a simmer before seasoning with salt and pepper.
-
Pour the pasta into the sauce along with the cooking water and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into an ovenproof dish and bake for twenty minutes until the pasta is cooked through and the cheese is golden and bubbling.