I have been watching Jamie Oliver’s 15 minute meals (yes, I know they were on last year, I Humax’d them!) and really liked the idea of the Chicken pasta with herby 6-veg ragu. The mixture of vegetables with the tomato and pasta looked delicious.
As an alternative to meat, I decided to use Seitan ‘Chicken’ pieces from our local Chinese supermarket Wing Yip, as they are delicious and have a very similar texture to chicken. They are from the frozen section so perfect for keeping in and planning into your meals.
I tweaked this recipe slightly to incorporate ingredients that we had in for other meals i.e. asparagus substituted courgette, but I feel that you could do this recipe with all kinds of seasonal veg – just experiment!
(Fake) Chicken Pasta with Veg Ragu
Ingredients:
Ragu
1 large leek
2 sticks of celery
1 carrot
1 bunch of asparagus
3 jarred red peppers
olive oil
8 sprigs of fresh thyme
700g passata
Pasta
320g dried wholewheat fusilli
1 pack of seitan ‘chicken’ (or Quorn ‘chicken’ pieces)
Quorn bacon
1 red chilli
4 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 fresh bay leaves
grated vegetarian Parmesan cheese to serve
Method:
Put the slicing blade on your food processor (or prepare a chopping board)
Slice the leek in half length-ways and rinse under the tap and add it to the food processor along with the carrot, celery, asparagus and jarred peppers
Heat some oil in a large pan and add the seitan/Quorn ‘chicken’ stirring to coat in the oil
Fry until steaming hot
Add the ragu, bay leaf and thyme and stir well
Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the packet instructions
Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the pan with the ragu and ‘chicken’
Stir well to combine
Serve with some freshly grated vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese
