One-Pan Chicken Zucchini Pasta
A quick and easy one-pan dish featuring chicken, zucchini, mushrooms, and pasta.
Servings: 2 people
Equipment
- 1 medium non-stick shallow pan
Ingredients
- 150 grams skinless chicken breast or thigh fillet sliced about ½ in thick, see notes
- 80 grams white onion (about 1/2 large onion) minced
- 150 grams dry spaghetti
- 40 grams fresh garlic (about 6 cloves) minced
- 200 grams mushrooms (1/2 small can) sliced, see notes
- 125 ml cream
- 3 grams kosher salt use only half for fine salt
- 0.5 grams italian seasoning (about ½ tsp)
- 475 ml water (about 2 cups)
- 7 grams unsalted butter (about ½ tbsp)
- 60 grams cherry tomatoes cut in half or quarters
- 14 grams rendered chicken fat (about 1 tbsp) or neutral oil, see notes
- ½ pc chicken or pork cube
- chili flakes to taste optional
- black pepper to taste freshly cracked
- grated parmesan for garnish optional
- 60 grams zucchini (about half a medium zucchini) sliced
Instructions
- Marinate your raw chicken in about 1 gram of kosher salt (use half for fine salt) for at least 15 minutes
- Heat your pan to medium-high heat and add the unsalted butter.
- Once melted, sear your chicken slices, about 1.5 to 2 minutes per side. Be careful not to overcook, especially if using chicken breast as it will become dry. Remove and set aside.
- If using fresh shitake mushrooms, saute your mushrooms until cooked through, about 3 minutes. If using canned, continue on the next step.
- In the same pan without washing, add your rendered chicken fat or neutral oil and heat to medium heat. Saute your minced onions until translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Add in your minced garlic and saute until aromatic, about 1 to 2 minutes. Lower your heat as necessary and be careful not to burn.
- If using canned mushrooms, add your drained mushrooms to your aromatics and saute for about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add 2 cups of water to your pan, followed by your ½ chicken or pork cube. Dissolve and let boil. Season with salt to taste.
- Add your dry pasta to the water and cook according to package instructions, minus about 1 minute. This is about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir pasta from time to time to prevent from sticking, and add water in increments of 100ml at a time if the water is being absorbed before the pasta cooks. I used about 300ml in total until the pasta was ready.
- Once your pasta is al dente, add in your zucchini and toss for about a inute. This will remove the raw taste but keep the texture.
- Add cherry tomatoes and toss right before serving to retain texture (or the residual heat from the rest of ingredients will cook it through)
- Top with grated parmesan, freshly cracked black pepper, and serve hot.
Notes
- Chicken - we use chicken breast but chicken thighs would be more juicy, flavorful, and more difficult to overcook
- Mushrooms - fresh shitake would be great, but canned buttom mushrooms would be okay
- Rendered chicken fat - we keep chicken skin and excess chicken fat in the freezer. Once we collect about 500 grams, we render by simply putting all of it in a cold pot on very low heat, until all the fat comes out and the skin becomes golden and crispy.