My go to pasta recipe😍

Hey everyone❤️ I hope everyone is having a good day. I hope that your week is filled with new opportunities, happiness and blessings🙏

Today's post is a step by step on how to make my go to pasta. I have previously posted this picture on my Instagram and people messaged me and asked how I made it. So today I am going to go through how I make my pasta, what ingredients I use, how long I cook everything for and most importantly what seasonings I use. I will also add a list of must have seasonings to have in your house to cook with at the end.

First I boil the kettle and add pasta to a pot. Usually I end up adding enough pasta to feed a small family when I make pasta for myself because I cant ever measure out how much is enough🤣 does this happen to anyone else?🤣 When the water is boiled I pour enough water over the pasta to cover it and I add a little bit extra just to make sure its covered. I add a bit of butter, salt and pepper to the pot. I then mix the pasta, turn the hob on number 7, wait for it to boil and then I usually turn it down to number 5. I set the timer for 20 minutes and then I check it. If the pasta is not soft in this time, leave the pasta on for an extra 5 minutes then check it again. Once the pasta is soft, I use a colander to drain the water off the pasta. I rinse the pasta in cold water to remove the starch, shake the colander to remove any excess water and then I leave the colander on the side over the pot I used to cook the pasta until I am ready to add it to the pan.

Straight after I put my pasta on, I start to cook the other ingredients in the pan. I put oil into a pan and put the hob on number 5. I take chicken and remove any fat. I cant stand any fat on meat it is awful🤣 I then wash the chicken, dice it and put it into the pan. If you know you are going to make pasta the day before you make it, my advice would be to season your chicken and leave it to marinate over night or season your chicken the morning you are going to make it. This adds better flavor to your food. I usually make pasta last minute so I don't end up doing this half of the time🤣 Soooo if you are like me and you do things last minute, once you add your chicken to the pan you're going to add your seasonings. No salt and pepper things🤣 I mean proper seasoning🤣 I usually add some chicken seasoning, garlic seasoning, cajun seasoning, piri piri seasoning and some Jamaican jerk seasoning. If you do not like food that is in any way spicy I would suggest using the chicken seasoning and garlic seasoning only, leave out the other two seasonings mentioned .If the chicken is white at all by the time it is cooked, you have done something wrong and need to add more seasoning🤣 I usually cook my chicken in the pan for 15-18 minutes. After 15 minutes, cut open the biggest piece of chicken in the pan and if it is white (on the inside not the outside) then it is cooked through.

After cooking the chicken I start adding my vegetables. First I usually add onion and chopped garlic to the pan with the chicken. I fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes. I then add mixed peppers to the chicken, onions and garlic. I cook everything together for an extra 5 minutes. Then I add sweetcorn, carrots and broccoli to the food in the pan. You have to cook the broccoli before adding it to the pan. You can either steam the broccoli in a steamer for 15 minutes or you can add the broccoli to a bowl with cold water and put it in the microwave for 13-15 minutes. You will know the broccoli is done when you check it with a fork and it is soft. Cook everything in the pan for an extra 5 minutes. I then add a little under half a cup of cold water to the pan. I let the water heat with the food for 2 to 3 minutes then I add some more seasoning. I usually add more chicken seasoning, more garlic seasoning, more cajun seasoning and more Jamaican jerk seasoning. Again if you do not like food that is in any way spicy, only add chicken seasoning and garlic seasoning.

Once everything in the pan is ready I then add my pasta. Mix everything together well, do this for 5 minutes so that the pasta is heated through. I then add a little bit of butter and a bit of chilli powder. If you do not like spice, leave out the chilli powder. I mix everything again. Then the pasta is finished and ready to eat😍

If you would rather make this dish with rice, the same method is followed. If you would rather use another meat other than chicken, make sure the meat is cooked thoroughly and seasoned well. If you are a vegetarian and you are using Quorn make sure you use seasoning too in order to get the best flavors from the dish. If you do not like a vegetable mentioned, leave it out and substitute it with something else if you wish.

List of must have seasonings

I am going to leave a list below of must have seasonings to have in your cupboards if you are not familiar with seasonings. If you are, then you more than likely have the following🤣 You can buy most of these seasonings in Tesco, Target, ASDA or any other large equivalent food store depending on where you live.

• Chicken seasoning

• Jamaican Jerk seasoning

• Cajun seasoning

• BBQ seasoning

• Garlic seasoning

• Paprika seasoning

• Piri piri seasoning

• Chilli powder

• Onion powder

• Maggi cubes - cant be bought in stores mentioned above as far as I know, can be ordered on amazon

• Maggi cooking sheets - you stick the chicken breast in between the sheets given and cook the chicken in the oven. I would recommend the garlic or paprika sheets.

• Oxo chicken stock cubes/stock pots

• Oxo beef stock cubes/stock pots

• Oxo vegetable stock cubes/stock pots (suitable for vegans).

If you have any questions about this recipe, feel free to message me on my Instagram. If you would like to look at other dishes I have made, I have cooking videos in my highlights on my Instagram account. Feel free to take a a look and if there is anything you would like me to do a step by step on let me know☺️

Much Love,

Shannon💛