Did you know that spinach harbours an impressive amount of iron? Too much iron might be bad for you but a measured dose of it on a regular basis is completely fine. I took to spinach when I realised my hair fall was beyond control, so I sneak spinach whenever I can when preparing food. Be it a sandwich or pasta sauce such as this… spinach definitely makes an appearance. 

Besides its nutritional benefits, this pasta recipe makes for an ideal dinner. Tis the season of festivities, and visitors are bound to make an appearance themselves. A bowl of this delicious pasta that is quite convenient to eat is exactly what you need to serve your ravenous guests. 

A portion of garlic bread is of course implied when serving a bowl of this mouth-watering pasta... 

Ingredients 

350 - 400g of chicken (breast portion) 
300g of pasta 
100g of spinach 
50 g of parsley 
1 carrot (large) 
4 - 5 tomatoes (large) 
1 onion (medium size) 
3 cloves of garlic 
¼ cup of milk 
½ lime 
2 tbs of ketchup 
Thyme 
Oregano 
Salt 
Pepper 
Paprika 
Sage 
Worcestershire sauce 
Olive oil 

Directions 

Fill a heavy based saucepan with water and place it on a medium high heat. 

Dump the raw pasta in to it and let it boil. 

Wash, clean, cut the chicken breast in to bite size pieces and place it in a bowl. 

Juice the lime over the chicken, add two teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoon of salt, pepper, paprika and leave it to marinade. 

Wash, clean and dice the onion, carrot, garlic, parsley and spinach, and set it aside. 

Blanch the tomatoes in hot water, peel and blitz in a food processor. 

Add a teaspoon of olive oil in a saucepan, and place it on a medium high flame. 

Add half of the diced onion, garlic and a teaspoon of sage to it and sauté. 

Once the onion has started to brown, add the chicken to it and stir. 

After the chicken has cooked, take it off the heat and set it aside. 

Then to the same pan add the rest of the onion, the carrot, the ketchup and cook. 

Pour the blitz tomato in to the pan. Add the milk to it and stir. 

Add three teaspoons of oregano, two teaspoons of paprika, sage and stir. 

Then add the chicken to the sauce and let it cook for a minute. 

Afterwards, add the chopped spinach and parsley to the sauce, stir for a minute and let it simmer. 

Pour ¼ cup of boiling pasta water in to the sauce and stir. 

Once the pasta has boiled, take it off the heat and strain it off its excess water using a colander. 

Serve some boiled pasta on to a bowl, scoop some sauce on to it and eat while its hot. 

Disasters, Warnings and Tips 

This recipe looks a little tedious, but if you are quick on your feet, it would take an hour to prepare. 

I put some feta on this before eating… Delish! 

Tis the season for festivities and this would make for an ideal dinner! 

A portion of cheesy garlic bread accompanied this scrumptious bowl. 

When boiling the pasta, add the parsley stalks to it. Helps with the flavour. 

Tis is the season to be broke…. Fa la la la la…la la lala… 

I added fresh oregano and thyme to the pasta. But the ingredients here are for the dried powdered version of it. 

Text and photographs by Shazzana Hamid