Rasta Pasta
Rasta pasta is a spicy, creamy pasta sauce packed full of bell peppers of various colours - hence the name rasta pasta as they follow the colours of the Jamaican flag. The spicy jerk flavours of the sauce are further emphasized by the marinaded and blackened chicken which tops the pasta. Feel free to make the dish as spicy as you want with the addition of a scotch bonnet chili.
This recipe calls for Jamaican jerk seasoning. You can use a bought version but it's so simple to make with this recipe.
This recipe is easy to prepare in advance. Just marinade the chicken and make the sauce and then let everything rest until you are ready to eat. Then all you have to do is grill the chicken and cook the pasta.
- 300 g cleaned and trimmed chicken breasts
- 1.5 tbsp jerk seasoning
- 0.5 tsp garlic powder
- 0.5 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 300 g pasta shape (e.g. penne)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small red onion sliced
- 225 g bell peppers sliced (aim for a mix of red, green and yellow/orange)
- 2 spring onions sliced
- 2 clove garlic finely chopped
- 1.5 tbsp jerk seasoning
- 200 ml cream
- 1 tbsp chicken stock concentrate
- 1 scotch bonnet chili pierced (see note 1)
- salt to taste
- 20 g grated parmesan
Mix together the ingredients for the marinade and massage into the chicken breast. Leave to marinade in the fridge for about 2 hours.
Put a pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta. The sauce can be made while the water comes up to boil.
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a frying pan and heat to a medium heat. Fry the onion until they start to soften but not catch.
Add the peppers and fry until softened.
Add the spring onions and garlic and fry until cooked but not catching
Add 1.5 tablespoons of jerk seasoning and fry for about 30 seconds until you can smell the fragrance of the spice mix released.
Add 200ml cream, 1 tablespoon of stock and the pierced scotch bonnet and simmer over a low heat.
Add the parmesan to the sauce, stir and check for seasoning. If the sauce is a little dry you can add water or add pasta water when you cook the pasta.
At this point you can start to cook the chicken. Fry the chicken over a medium to high heat until the outside starts to catch. Depending on the thickness of your chicken breast the chicken will either be done now, or if not you can finish the chicken under a grill.
Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain the pasta when al dente and add to the sauce. Mix well and serve in bowls discarding the scotch bonnet unless you want the heat.
Cut the chicken into slices and serve on top of the pasta with extra parmesan if wanted.
- If you don't like it too spicy you can skip the scotch bonnet. If you really like it hot cut the scotch bonnet into pieces to increase the heat.