Chicken Parmesan with Whole-Wheat Pasta

What you need

Ingredients

Measured for 4 servings.

• 640 gChicken Breast, raw
• 280 gWhole-Wheat Pasta, dry
• 420 gTomato Passata
• 140 gMozzarella, part-skim
• 35 gParmesan
• 180 gSpinach
• 10 gOlive Oil
• 12 gGarlic

Make it

Method

1. 01

   Heat the oven to 200°C conventional (180°C fan). Slice the 640 g chicken breast horizontally into four similarly thick cutlets and pat them dry. Wash the 180 g spinach, mince the 12 g garlic and grate the measured mozzarella and Parmesan. This is an unbreaded Parmesan-style version; no crumbs or flour are included.

2. 02

   Cook the 280 g dry whole-wheat pasta in boiling water to the packet's just-tender stage. Reserve about a cup of pasta water before draining. Keep the pasta separate from the raw chicken and its utensils.

3. 03

   Heat the measured 10 g olive oil in a wide oven-safe pan over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken cutlets for about 3–4 minutes per side until lightly browned; move them to a clean plate. They will finish cooking under the sauce and cheese.

4. 04

   Lower the heat. Stir the garlic in the pan for about 30 seconds, pour in the 420 g passata and simmer for 3–4 minutes. Fold in the spinach until it wilts. Return the chicken to the sauce and spoon some sauce over each piece; divide the 140 g mozzarella and 35 g Parmesan evenly over the four cutlets.

5. 05

   Transfer the oven-safe pan to the hot oven for about 5–7 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the thickest part of each chicken piece reaches 74°C on a clean thermometer. If the pan is not oven-safe, move chicken and sauce to a baking dish first. Toss the pasta with the remaining sauce and a splash of reserved water, then serve one chicken cutlet with each of four equal pasta portions.

6. 06

   Allow about 20 minutes preparation and 25 minutes cooking while the pasta and chicken steps overlap. Cool leftovers promptly in shallow covered containers; refrigerate and reheat until thoroughly hot.