Creamy Chicken, Mushroom & Broccoli Pasta

Sometimes there’s nothing I want more than a nice creamy pasta dish. I was about to make my carbonara yesterday and decided to change things up a little bit instead.

The result? A creamy dish that doesn’t break your macro’s!

I ended up throwing all sorts into the pan, sort of knowing what I was aiming for. But also trying to use up some ingredients I had left over. I love cooking this way sometimes. I use myself as a guinea pig with flavours before letting other people try it.

As I’m a vegetarian, I’ve used Quorn chicken and a vegetable stock, but feel free to change this for chicken breast and a chicken stock instead!
Note that if you’re a vegetarian you need to check your stock before you buy it. I didn’t realise until I went to buy some that like most things, they aren’t always vegetarian!

Approx. Macro’s – per serving, serves 4:

Calories – 301
Fat (g) 7.8
Carbs (g) 37.6
Protein (g) 18.6

Ingredients:

250g frozen Quorn chicken pieces
150g of penne pasta
100g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
150g broccoli florets, cooked
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
200ml vegetable stock
180g low fat cream cheese
1 tsp coconut oil

Method:

1. Cook the pasta al dente. Reserve two ladles of water and drain.
2. Heat the coconut oil in a pan and add the onion, frying until soft.
3. Add the Quorn chicken and garlic, cooking through. After 5 minutes add the mushrooms and broccoli.
4. Reduce the heat and add a small amount of the stock to sauté the chicken and veg. Simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Whisk together the cream cheese, pasta water and remaining stock. The starch from the pasta water will thicken up the sauce beautifully.
6. Add this mixture, along with the cooked pasta, to the pan and simmer until the sauce has thickened and reduced.

Not everyone is a big broccoli fan I know. You could add all sorts of veg in place of the broccoli. Why not try some spinach or garden peas instead?

Don’t forget the macro’s will vary depending on your ingredients, so you’ll need to double check them.

Happy munching!

A.x