Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese Pasta
Deborah
Chicken and broccoli in a delicious creamy blue cheese sauce with pasta...a favourite in our house!
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course Main
Cuisine Italian
- 230g broccoli florets cut into small sprigs (see Notes)
- 50g butter
- 500g skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs cut into thin strips (see Notes)
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 300g dried penne or pasta of your choice (see Notes)
- 120ml dry white wine
- 200ml double cream (I use Elmlea to reduce the calories!)
- 90g gorgonzola cheese rind removed and diced small (see Notes)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- freshly grated parmesan cheese to serve
Plunge the broccoli into a saucepan of boiling salted water. Bring back to the boil and boil for 2 minutes, then drain in a colander and refresh under cold running water. Shake well to remove the surplus water and set aside to drain completely.
Melt the butter over a medium heat in a large frying pan or casserole dish, add the chicken and garlic, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and stir well. Fry for 3 minutes or until the chicken becomes white. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
Pour the wine and cream over the chicken mixture in the pan, stir to mix, then simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Add the broccoli and gorgonzola, increase the heat and toss to heat through the broccoli and melt the cheese. Taste for seasoning.
Drain the pasta and tip it into the sauce, mix well to combine all together.
Serve with grated parmesan and maybe some homemade bread on the side!
- The original recipe states to use penne pasta and gorgonzola cheese. I’ve also made it with fusilli and rigatoni. Any creamy blue cheese will work fine - most recently I used Castello creamy blue soft cheese - it was yum!
- In the ingredients list I have doubled the original stated quantity of broccoli to 230g instead of 115g as we really like it.
- I also changed the quantity of chicken to a weight - you can use chicken breasts or chicken thighs...or a mixture of both.
- The recipe is easily halved if you're only making for 2 people, and if cooking for 1, halve the recipe and enjoy leftovers another day!
- An alternative suggestion from the book is to use leeks instead of broccoli if you prefer – fry them with the chicken.
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Keyword blue cheese, broccoli, chicken, garlic, pasta, sour cream, white wine