Chicken & Vodka Pasta

Dice onion and set aside.

Dice chicken breast into small cubes. I do approximately 2cm x 2cm. Cook in frypan in 1 tbs olive oil until just cooked through. Remove from pan and place in a bowl covered in aluminium foil.

Remove any liquid from the pan. Add 1 tbs oil, onion and garlic. Fry for 5-7 minutes until onion is completely translucent and just slightly turning brown.

Add the tomato paste and chilli flakes. Stir and cook for 5-7 minutes until the paste becomes a deep red colour and the pan starts to slightly brown. Stir regularly during this process. Add extra chilli flakes to suit your taste if required.

While the tomato paste mixture is cooking add pasta to boiling water with 1 teaspoon of salt and cook according to the instructions. The pasta i use takes 10 minutes.

Meanwhile add the vodka to the tomato paste mixture and cook on medium heat until the vodka is mixed through. Reduce the heat to low.

Add 1/4 cup of the boiling pasta water to the tomato paste mixture and stir through.

Add the cooking cream to the tomato paste mixture and stir well.

When the cream is mixed well add the Parmesan cheese and stir on a low heat until it is melted and the sauce is smooth.

Add the chicken and stir through the sauce.

When the chicken is warm (1-2 minutes) add the spinach and gently stir through.

Check if your pasta is cooked. If it is ready scoop the pasta into your sauce. Don't worry if pasta water drips into the sauce as well. Gently stir through the pasta and any water. Serve & enjoy. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Note : In some of my photos there are 2 saucepans of pasta cooking. This is because my mum was visiting when I took these photos and she is a coeliac so I also cooked gluten free pasta for her. Normally I add the pasta to the chicken & sauce before serving. On this occasion we served it separately and mixed it together in our bowls.