CREAMY CHICKEN AND MASCARPONE TOMATO PASTA
Creamy Chicken & Mascarpone Tomato Pasta
A rich, creamy tomato pasta for the whole family. We make one tomato and mascarpone base, scoop out the Tiny Feaster’s portion before seasoning, then turn up the flavour for the grown-ups. It’s comforting, packed with fresh tomatoes and spinach, and brilliant for the freezer too.
Serves: 2–4 adults, with plenty for Tiny Feasters
Ingredients
600g chicken breast (around 3 large breasts)
2 medium onions
Olive oil, for cooking
580g fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
or use tinned tomatoes if fresh aren’t available
3 garlic cloves
20ml olive oil
35g tomato purée
25g fresh parsley, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
250g mascarpone
100g pancetta
100g fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Rigatoni or another pasta of your choice
Black pepper
Salt, for the adult portion only
For the adults, optional:
Chilli flakes or fresh chilli
Paprika
Parmesan, to serve
Pine nuts, to serve
Method
1. Cook the chicken
Air fry or roast the three chicken breasts until just cooked through but still lovely and moist.
Leave one chicken breast completely unseasoned for your Tiny Feaster. Season the other two with salt and black pepper before cooking.
Once cooked, set aside to rest.
2. Start the two onion preparations
Finely chop one onion and add it to a large pan with a little olive oil. Gently sauté until completely soft.
Slice the second onion into half moons and add to a separate, smaller pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook gently until softened.
Add the pancetta to the sliced onions and continue cooking until the pancetta is golden and beginning to crisp. Set aside for the adult version later.
3. Make the tomato base
Add the fresh tomatoes, garlic cloves and 20ml olive oil to a food processor. Blitz until everything is very finely chopped but not completely smooth.
Pour this mixture into the large pan with the finely chopped onion.
Add the tomato purée and chopped parsley, stir well and allow everything to simmer gently. Give it time here — you want the tomatoes to cook right down and the sauce to become concentrated, rich and thick.
4. Add the mascarpone
Once the tomatoes have reduced significantly, stir through the mascarpone until completely melted into the tomato sauce.
Add the roughly chopped spinach and allow it to wilt down into the sauce.
5. Make it Tiny Feaster friendly
Before adding any salt, scoop out around 2 generous serving-spoonfuls of sauce and transfer to a separate small pan or bowl.
Finely chop the reserved unseasoned chicken breast into an age-appropriate size and stir it through the Tiny Feaster sauce.
That’s their creamy chicken and tomato sauce done.
6. Finish the grown-up sauce
Now you can be generous with the seasoning.
Add the cooked pancetta and sliced onions to the remaining sauce and season well with salt and black pepper. Salt really brings the tomato flavour to life, so taste and adjust until it’s just right.
For even more punch, add chilli, paprika or whatever seasoning takes your fancy.
Slice the remaining two seasoned chicken breasts and stir them through the sauce.
7. Cook the pasta
Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to the packet instructions. I use a larger rigatoni for this.
Cook it all together in unsalted water so the pasta itself is suitable for everyone, then drain and toss with a little olive oil if needed.
For your Tiny Feaster, cut the cooked pasta into an age-appropriate size or shape before serving.
8. Serve
For the adults, pile the rigatoni into bowls and spoon over plenty of that rich chicken, mascarpone and tomato sauce.
Finish with fresh parsley, a scattering of pine nuts and a generous grating of Parmesan.
For Tiny Feasters, stir their pasta through the reserved creamy tomato and chicken sauce and serve at a safe temperature.
The beauty of this one is that almost everything is cooked together. The split only happens towards the end, before the pancetta and seasoning go into the grown-up sauce.
The sauce also freezes brilliantly, so portion any leftovers into individual servings for an easy dinner another day.
Cook once. Feed everyone.
