Hidden Veg Sauce Pasta & Chicken

📝 Ingredients

• 320 g dried pasta (macaroni, penne or fusilli)
• 300 g chicken breast (2 fillets of about 150 g each)
• ½ butternut squash (about 450 g flesh)
• 2 carrots (about 120 g each)
• 1 brown onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 chicken stock cube + 400 ml hot water
• 60 g plain cream cheese (about 24% fat)
• 60 g grated Emmental
• 2 tbsp olive oil (1 for the vegetables, 1 for the chicken)
• ½ tsp sweet paprika
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large pot with lid
• Large saucepan
• Frying pan
• Stick blender
• Peeler
• Colander

📖 Steps

1. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthways and keep one half for another recipe. Peel the other half, scoop out the seeds and cut into 2 cm dice. Peel the carrots and slice them into 5 mm rounds: as they're harder, this way they'll cook in the same time. Slice the onion and peel the garlic.
2. In the stockpot, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over a medium heat. Sweat the onion for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until translucent but not coloured. Add the butternut squash, carrots and the whole garlic clove, then stir for 1 minute.
3. Dissolve the stock cube in the 400 ml hot water and pour over the vegetables: they should be almost covered. Cover and cook at a gentle simmer for 20 minutes, until the tip of a knife slides into the carrots without resistance.
4. Meanwhile, bring the large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for the time shown on the packet. Scoop out a glass of the cooking water before draining: you'll use it to adjust the sauce.
5. Cut the chicken into small 1.5 cm dice, easy for kids to eat. Season lightly with salt and sprinkle with paprika. Heat the rest of the oil in the frying pan over a medium-high heat and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, stirring, until golden and no longer pink in the middle.
6. Off the heat, add the cream cheese and Emmental to the vegetables and their stock. Blend for 2 minutes with a stick blender until perfectly smooth and bright orange: without a single lump, the vegetables go unnoticed. Taste, season with pepper and adjust the salt.
7. Return the drained pasta to its pan, add the sauce and chicken, then stir over a low heat for 1 to 2 minutes to coat well. If the sauce is too thick, loosen it with a little cooking water. Serve immediately.