Easy and luxurious one pot dinner – Mascarpone Penne with Spinach. Nothing gives me more joy than to please friends or family with some good amount of fresh and humble ingredients. I am not going to lie that this is an embarrassingly easy recipe that will feed everyone. The only thing you need to do in advance is to marinate the chicken. That brings the meal to a whole new level. Enjoy!
Total Time: 25 minutes + chicken marinade for couple of hours ahead
Shopping list
The Chicken:
500g of good quality chicken filet, cleaned and diced
2 teaspoons of Provencal Herbs
1 teaspoon of lemon grass
½ teaspoon of chili flakes
Splash of Heinz Ketchup
The Mascarpone Sauce:
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
2 branches of fresh cherry tomatoes (about 16 of them), diced
Splash of juice from lemon
1 cup of dry white wine
125g of Mascarpone Cheese
Pinch of nutmeg
150g of baby spinach, washed and drained
Sea salt, black pepper
Olive oil
Fresh chives and Parmesan Cheese to finish
300g of quality Penne Pasta
Instructions
The Chicken
In a medium deep cooking pot place 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Add Provencal Herbs, lemon grass, chili, ketchup and season with salt and pepper.
Mix it well with a whisking spoon and taste. Chicken in. By using a metal spoon, nicely rub the marinade all over. Put the lid on and place it in a cold place, even overnight.
Next Day, take the chicken out and bring it to a room temperature.
Heat up the wok on high heat and put the chicken in. Nicely roast it until golden for about 5 minutes on highest heat.
Meanwhile, place pasta in a hot boiling salted water and stir from time to time.
The Mascarpone Sauce
When the chicken is ready, add garlic and tomatoes into the wok.
Add Provencal Herbs, season with salt and pepper.
Pour in the wine, reduce.
Next, add splash of lemon and lower the heat.
Stir in the Mascarpone Cheese. Sprinkle with pinch of nutmeg and let it cook until pasta is cooked to al dente.
Add 1 large spoon of salted pasta water into the sauce.
Spinach in, season with salt and pepper. Taste.
Once the spinach is wilted down (takes about 2 minutes), stir in the pasta. Take off the heat and finish with fresh chives and Parmesan Cheese.
Serve warm with a glass of white wine.
Makes 5 serves.
