What's for dinner?
So its the middle of the week and you're hungry, you have to feed your family but you don’t want to spend hours cooking dinner. This is a quick, delicious, and satisfying pasta meal which only took 30 minutes to make. This is my chicken and shrimp pasta in a creamy tomato sauce.
INGREDIENTS
Chicken breast (500g)
Raw shrimp/king prawns (275g)
Garlic (4 cloves)
Parmesan Cheese (1 cup grated)
Parsley (chopped)
Tomato Puree/Paste (1 tablespoon)
Cherry Tomatoes (200g)
Double Cream (300mls)
Canned Chopped Tomatoes
Linguine or other pasta of choice
Olive oil
Seasonings: Salt, onion salt, garlic granules, black pepper, cayenne pepper, all-purpose seasoning and dried or fresh herbs (oregano, basil and thyme).
METHOD
Start by washing the chicken breasts then cutting into strips. Season the chicken, with a bit of salt, onion salt, garlic granules, cajun seasoning and black peeper, then mix everything in well.
Next devein and clean the shrimp (I left the tail on for added flavour) then season with salt, garlic granules and black pepper.
Prep the other ingredients like cutting the cherry tomatoes in half, crushing the garlic, grating the parmesan cheese and chopping up parsley.
Now for some cooking action, so in a hot pan add some olive oil then sauté the chicken breasts until all the pink is gone, this only took about 4 minutes then I took them out (be careful not to over cook the chicken at this stage as its going to cook further in the sauce, this will keep it juicy and tender).
Time for the shrimp, so in the same pan with with same juices, sauté the shrimp, and again, be careful not to overcook the shrimp. So as soon as the shrimps turns pink, take them out. This takes about 2 minutes.
Now time to make the creamy tomato sauce. So in the same pan with all the flavour packed shrimp and chicken juices, add a tablespoon of butter, then gently sauté the crushed garlic on low-medium heat for a short time, about 20 seconds.
Add the tomato puree and continue cooking it with the garlic.
After about a minute I add in 1 can of chopped tomatoes then season to taste with salt, all-purpose seasoning, half a chicken stock cube, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, freshly ground black peppercorns, and oregano, basil and thyme herbs.
You can add a bit of hot water to loosen the sauce slightly. For added flavour, add in the juices from the cooked chicken and shrimp that has been resting. Stir all of this in well then leave the sauce to gently simmer for 10 minutes.
Remember to start to cook your chosen pasta according to the package instructions and any sides you might be having.
Back to the sauce, by now it would have reduced slightly, so add in the double cream and stir in well. (I also added a bit of water to loosen the sauce slightly as I don’t want it too thick, and it will get thicker as it cooks) Then leave the sauce to simmer for 3 minutes.
Next add in the chicken breast and the cherry tomatoes and leave to simmer in the sauce for about 2 minutes.
Then add in the parmesan cheese and stir this in well.
Once the cheese has melted slightly add in the juicy shrimps.
At this stage you can add some more freshly ground black peppercorns (I wanted that black pepper flavour towards the end of the cooking)
Then finish the sauce off with chopped parsley.
Drain the cooked pasta and add to the creamy tomato sauce and gently stir until the pasta is evenly coated in the delicious sauce.
There you have it, a simple, quick, delicious meal full of flavour, ready in just 30 minutes!
Enjoy!
Here's a photo:
Watch the recipe tutorial | https://youtu.be/gRDfBDprvlQ