This easy pasta with chicken and zucchini is an august evergreen. That is the main season for zucchini and the plants in our garden usually produce more than abundantly. And you probably guess the challenge already: how to bring variation in your zucchini menu? This is a typical midweek dish: simple and quick to prepare, and above all very tasty. Read more details on the recipe below. And find a lot of other great ideas for what to do with your zucchini.
Easy pasta recipe with chicken and zucchini
Ingredients
- 500 gram chicken strips
- 500 gram fusilli
- 1 zucchini
- 1 can diced tomatoes 400 gram
- 1 red chili pepper optional
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 shallot
- salt
- pepper
- basil leaves optional
- grated cheese optional
Instructions
- Wash the zucchini and cut into strips of about 2 cm.
- Also finely chop the shallot, red pepper and garlic.
- Meanwhile, bring water to the boil and cook the fusilli until al dente.
- Heat some olive oil in a wok and fry the shallot, chilli and garlic for 1 minute.
- Then add the zucchini strips and let them fry for a few minutes on a high heat until they are al dente.
- Then set them aside and heat some olive oil in the wok again. Now fry the chicken strips until they are golden brown on the outside.
- Then add the zucchini strips and the diced tomatoes again. Now let it all slowly simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Drain the pasta when it's done, then mix the fusilli in the wok.
- Now let everything integrate for a few minutes and then serve in deep plates.
- You can also finish with some basil leaves and/or grated cheese.
Nutrition
How to prepare this easy pasta with chicken and zucchini
This recipe is very easy to make and ready in twenty to thirty minutes. A healthy and fast meal for stressed weekdays.
A few preparations
The fusilli
First of all, start boiling the water for your pasta. By the time the pasta will be done, you're finished with the rest of your recipe. So you can immediately drain the fusilli and mix with the chicken and zucchini in the wok. I prefer to use fusilli for this recipe, but you can of course just as well use other short pasta types such as penne or rigatoni.
The Seasoning
A shallot, two cloves of garlic and optionally a red chili pepper are the seasonings for this one-pan dish. Cleaning them and cutting them into small pieces is no big deal. If you are afraid of spicy, you can omit the pepper. But by removing the seeds properly, you will not be surprised with a burning mouth.
The zucchini
To stay into the theme with the chicken strips and the fusilli, we cut the zucchini into strips about 2 cm long. To do this, first cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. Then you have to cut the zucchini in half again horizontally once, and vertically about three times, depending on your preference. Then you can cut strips of two to three centimeters in width. A tip: cut a little diagonally, that looks even nicer.
The chicken strips
As this is a quick midweek recipe, I buy the chicken strips in the supermarket. But you can also use chicken breasts, and cut them similarly to the zucchini in strips of about 2cm (1 inch).
Fry and simmer in the wok
Now everything will come together in the wok in a few steps. First we will fry the zucchini and the chicken strips in the wok. Then we will cook them with the diced tomatoes and the pasta.
Frying the zucchini, the seasoning vegetables and the chicken strips
Heat some olive oil in the wok pan. Then add the seasoning vegetables (shallot, garlic, chili pepper) and fry them for approximately one minute over high heat. Then add the zucchini and fry them also for a few minutes on high heat. They should stay crispy, and not be done completely. Then put them aside.
Now we add again some oil to the wok and fry the chicken strips also over high heat.
And now it is simmering time
When the chicken strips are golden brown, add the zucchini strips with the seasoning vegetables and diced tomatoes. Now let it all slowly simmer. And spice the dish with pepper and salt up to taste.
Meanwhile your pasta will be ready. After you have drained it, you can mix the fusilli to the simmering wok. Mix everything well and give it a few minutes to integrate.
And now it is time to serve. For this, you best use deep plates. And you may garnish with basil leaves and/or grated cheese. Enjoy your meal, calm down from a hot summer day and enjoy the hopefully nice evening!
More surprising.zucchini
If you grow zucchini in your garden, the challenge is most probably not uncommon. Suddenly you have so much produce, more than you can deal with. So sharing with friends, family and neighbors is certainly part of the solution. And of course you need some inspiring recipes to bring some variation in your menu. Here are some great ideas:
- Greek style stuffed zucchini.
- Creamy zucchini soup.
- Crispy golden-brown zucchini chips.
- Summer zucchini lunch with cheddar-yolk sauce.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
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