Chicken Parma Pasta Bake Recipe
In my never ending quest to come up with new meal ideas for my family, I decided why not combine two of our very favourite meals – Chicken Parma and Pasta Bake!
As our kids will eat practically anything which contains pasta, I added a couple of extra veggies to the sauce to boost the nutritional content for us all and best of all they didn’t even notice!
This is an easy family meal to make and it will comfortably serve two adults and a couple of kids with plenty of leftovers remaining.
You will need:
300g of dried spiral pasta
400g can of diced tomatoes
500g of pasta sauce
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
500g of chicken mince
1 brown onion
1 clove of garlic
1 zucchini
1/2 capsicum
1 teaspoon of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Let’s put it together!
1. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees and take out a large casserole dish and set to the side until needed.
2. Finely dice the brown onion and place it in a non stick frying pan along with the crushed garlic and cook for 2 – 3 minutes over a medium to high heat until the onion begins to turn translucent.
3. Place the pasta into a saucepan full of boiling water and cook as per the packet’s instructions. Once cooked drain the excess water and set aside.
4. Add the grated zucchini and diced capsicum to the frying pan and cook for a further 2 minutes, before adding the chicken mince. Use a wooden spoon to break up the mince in the pan.
5. Once the mince has almost cooked through, add the crushed tomatoes, pasta sauce, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat, and let the sauce simmer for 7 – 10 minutes – making sure to stir it occasionally.
6. Once the sauce has thickened, remove the frying pan from the heat. Pour the cooked pasta into the casserole dish and pour over the tomato sauce. Carefully stir the sauce through the pasta to ensure it’s evenly covered.
7. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top of the pasta bake and place into the oven for 25 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is beginning to brown.
8. Carefully remove the pasta bake from the oven and serve.
Notes:
This pasta bake is great served with some steamed greens – we love it with beans and broccoli.
This recipe will easily serve 2 adults and 2 children with leftovers.
Leftover chicken parma pasta bake can be frozen.
Ingredients
- 300g of dried spiral pasta
- 400g can of diced tomatoes
- 500g of pasta sauce
- 1 cup of mozzarella cheese
- 500g of chicken mince
- 1 brown onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 zucchini
- 1/2 capsicum
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190 degrees and take out a large casserole dish and set to the side until needed.
- Finely dice the brown onion and place it in a non stick frying pan along with the crushed garlic and cook for 2 – 3 minutes over a medium to high heat until the onion begins to turn translucent.
- Place the pasta into a saucepan full of boiling water and cook as per the packet’s instructions. Once cooked drain the excess water and set aside.
- Add the grated zucchini and diced capsicum to the frying pan and cook for a further 2 minutes, before adding the chicken mince. Use a wooden spoon to break up the mince in the pan.
- Once the mince has almost cooked through, add the crushed tomatoes, pasta sauce, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat, and let the sauce simmer for 7 – 10 minutes – making sure to stir it occasionally.
- Once the sauce has thickened, remove the frying pan from the heat. Pour the cooked pasta into the casserole dish and pour over the tomato sauce. Carefully stir the sauce through the pasta to ensure it’s evenly covered.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top of the pasta bake and place into the oven for 25 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is beginning to brown.
- Carefully remove the pasta bake from the oven and serve
Does your family love pasta bakes?
What are you favourite family recipes?
Lauren Matheson
Lauren founded her website Create Bake Make as a way to justify the ridiculous amount of baking she loves to do. She has a super sweet tooth and enjoying a slice of cake (or two) is one of her guilty indulgences. As a Mum of two little boys, when she isn't creating fun activities for the kids or breaking up arguments over toy trucks and cars, you will find her in the kitchen baking up a storm - or hiding in the pantry with the latest cooking magazine and a hot cup of coffee!
