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Creamy Garlic Chicken With Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach Pan
Chicken Broth Stellette Soup
I’ve been struggling with a winter cold for weeks now and while I’m normally an ‘it will pass’ kind of sick person, I’m about at the end of my tether with this particular cold, so it’s definitely time to dig out the big guns – in this case a chicken broth stellette soup.
The chicken in this recipe is already cooked, left over from Sunday lunch and it’s worth mentioning that the ratios of the spring onions, mushrooms, chicken and pasta can vary. It won’t hugely affect the end result, and it’s better than leaving a random mushroom alone in the punnet in the fridge!
Mushrooms are great for colds and flues apparently, containing cytokines that play an important role in defending the body against viral infections and tumours and help boost the immune system. And I’ve read conflicting advice about the consumption of mushrooms, but it seems that in order to get the most nutrition from them, they must be cooked otherwise they’re undigestable.
According to Chinese medicine, spring onion is good for expelling a winter cold, especially if consumed within the first two days of the cold.
Parsley has high levels of Vitamin C, Vitamin B12, and betacarotene that boosts the immune system of the body and protects it from colds, cough, and other infections.
Chicken is rich in a compound called carnosine, and it’s this that studies suggest helps reduce that stuffy, congested feeling in your nose and throat.
I also like using Stellette or Stelline pasta as they are small and don’t require much chewing and small enough to swallow (great when you have a sore throat) and then they are kind of pretty too!
I might try adding ginger and garlic next time too, not only because of the health benefits but because they might add a little extra flavour kick at a time when you can’t taste much!
Chicken Stellette Soup
Recipe Type: Soup, Broth
Author:
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Serves: 2 cups
Ingredients
- 500ml chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 spring onions, chopped
- 1-2 cups white mushrooms, sliced
- 1 shredded chicken breast
- 1/2 cup stellette soup pasta
- 125ml dry white wine
- 3-5 stalks fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the chicken stock and bay leaf in the Thermomix and heat Varoma/Speed 2/ 2 minutes/Reverse Speed
- Add the spring onions, the mushrooms and pasta to the pot and cook Varoma/Speed 2/5 minutes/Reverse Speed
- Add dry white wine & parsley and cook for a further 2 minutes/Varoma/Speed 2/Reverse
- Remove the bay leaf, add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Regular instructions
- Place the chicken broth and bay leaf in a pot and bring to the boil
- Add the spring onions, the mushrooms and pasta to the pot and boil for 8 minutes
- Add dry white wine & parsley and boil for another 3 minutes
- Remove the bay leaf, add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
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Slowcooked Chicken & Tomato Stuffed Pepper
Temperatures are dropping and the days are becoming shorter, so for us, it means the slow cooker has come out of the dark depths of the cupboard. We’re trying out a variety of savoury dishes for Halloween, a season not normally known for its savoury foods, but I want to have some options available, at least! 
For this recipe, I’ve used yellow peppers. I didn’t realise until I was cleaning them out that one of the peppers only had two humps on the apex, rather than three, which meant it couldn’t stand on its own. Undeterred, I just cut a small layer off, not so much that the bottom of the pepper was opened up – just enough to make it stand up straight.
Cutting faces in a pepper is a whole lot easier than it is on a pumpkin. Simply use a sharp knife and carefully pop the cutout parts out. 
You can use any filling you like, really. I’ve used a chicken and tomato one. If you want to stretch this meal, add some rice or couscous to the pepper. Alternatively, serve each pepper on a bed of rice. I didn’t bother in this particular meal. 
Once stuffed, I felt the peppers could use a bit of help to stand out a little, so I used a finger to pop some homemade tomato sauce into the eyes and mouths of the peppers.
I love the way the chicken and tomato looks a bit like brains, topping off the Halloween face. It’s simple, and quite effortless and very tasty!
Slow Cooked Chicken and Tomato Stuffed Peppers Recipe
Slow cooked Chicken & Tomato Stuffed Pepper
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 500g skinless, boneless chicken
- 1 tin of tomatoes
- 30ml (2tbs) dark soy sauce
- 15ml (1tbs) balsamic vinegar
- 5ml (1tsp) dried or fresh chopped rosemary
- 5ml (1tsp) salt
- 5 fresh tomatoes
- 4 yellow peppers
- For Halloween Faces, you’ll also need a little tomato sauce
- Serve with rice or other grain if you are so inclined.
Instructions
- Turn a slow cooker on low for 6 hours
- Add chicken, canned tomatoes, soy sauce, vinegar, rosemary and salt , put the lid in place.
- With an hour to go, add the fresh tomatoes
- With 30 minutes to go, remove the lid so the sauce can thicken a little
- After six hours, cut the top off the peppers and remove the seeds. (If you’re making Halloween faces, do that now too)
- Stuff the pepper, and using a clean spoon or finger, fill the eyes and mouth with tomato sauce.
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Vietnamese Cashew Pineapple Chicken
I love this dish. It just looks summery and fresh and inviting. Serve it with rice, or if you’re sharing, add a hearty meaty dish with it.
This recipe is originally from The Essential Asian Cookbook*, but adapted for serving two children and using a Thermomix – but you can use a knife as most of the cooking is done in a wok. I do think all of this could be done in the Thermomix to some extent. You could saute the cashews and coconut in the bowl, steam the chicken in the Varoma, and then combine all the ingredients at about 90C in the bowl before serving, but if I don’t have to and do have access to the wok, I’d do it that way.
Vietnamese Cashew Pineapple Chicken
Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Vietnamese,Asian,
Author:
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Serves: 4
A good stand alone, or perfect as part of a shared meal.
Ingredients
- 30g (2tbs) shredded coconut
- 80g (1/2 cup) raw cashews
- 30g (2tbs) oil
- 1 large onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 chopped red chillies (optional – I do it without)
- 350g chicken thigh fillets, diced
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 tbs fish sauce (nam plah)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 320g (2 cups) chopped pineapple (fresh is good, but tinned and drained is fine)
- 3 spring onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150C (300F) and spread the coconut evenly onto a tray. Toast the coconut for 10 minutes until golden. Remove from the tray immediately to prevent burning and set aside.
- Increase the heat to 180C (350F) and roast the cashews for 15 minutes until deep golden.
- In a wok, pour the oil to heat up.
- Drop the onion and garlic (and chillies if using) onto a running Thermomix at speed 4, about 5 seconds.
- Stir fry for 2 minutes, then remove from the pan.
- Meanwhile, put the peppers into the Thermomix and chop speed 4 about 10 seconds or until it’s the size you want.
- Add the chicken and the peppers to the wok, and cook until the chicken is light brown. Add the onion back in to the wok, then add the fish sauce, sugar and pineapple and heat through for about 2 minutes.
- Blitz the spring onion on Turbo to chop.
- Toss the cashews through the food in the wok, then serve and scatter the toasted coconut and spring onion over the top.
- Serve with rice or Asian vegetables.
Regular Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150C (300F) and spread the coconut evenly onto a tray. Toast the coconut for 10 minutes until golden. Remove from the tray immediately to prevent burning and set aside.
- Increase the heat to 180C (350F) and roast the cashews for 15 minutes until deep golden.
- In a wok, pour the oil to heat up.
- Chop the onions, garlic and chillies. While you’re at it, chop the peppers roughly and spring onions finely. Make sure the chicken is evenly diced.
- Add the onion, garlic and chillies if using to the wok.
- Stir fry for 2 minutes, then remove from the pan.
- Add the chicken and the peppers to the wok, and cook until the chicken is light brown. Add the onion back in to the wok, then add the fish sauce, sugar and pineapple and heat through for about 2 minutes.
- Toss the cashews through the food in the wok, then serve and scatter the toasted coconut and spring onion over the top.
- Serve with rice or Asian vegetables.
Calories: 2082
Notes
serves 4[br]521 calories per serve (doesn’t include rice)
How To Cook A Whole Chicken In The Thermomix Varoma
There’s been a lot of chatter on the UK Thermomix Owners Facebook group about how to cook a whole chicken in a Varoma. As it happened, the day Maria of FeistyTapas set the challenge, I found a chicken reduced to £3 on it’s sell by date and decided it was a sufficiently cheap amount to ‘gamble’ with. Well, the gamble paid off, and the chicken was amazing! It was so moist and succulent, I couldn’t believe it, and I’m definitely a convert!
There are as many flavour combinations as chickens in the world, so you can change it up as you like, but what I did do that worked very well, was to add flavour to the steaming water as well as the chicken skin.
Obviously this is steamed chicken, so you’re not going to get a nice crunchy chicken skin, but 10 minutes at 200C in a hot oven crisps the skin up just fine if you want a roast-like bird. If you’re going to be chopping it up for other things, there’s no need, really, for that final step.
How To Cook A Whole Chicken In The Thermomix Veroma
Recipe Type: Varoma, Main Meal
Cuisine: Steamed
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Serves: 4 -6
Add any flavours you like, to suit your accompaniments. You could steam potatoes or other vegetables with the chicken, but be aware of air flow and circulation around the Veroma, Some people put chop sticks in to allow for air flow, but I don’t. I just lightly steam the veg with the same water while the chicken is crisping up or resting.
Ingredients
- 1.3kg Whole chicken
- Smoked paprika and salt for rubbing on chicken
- 2 cloves garlic
- 450g chicken stock (already mixed with water as per instructions)
- Few drops fish sauce (Nam Pla)
- Teaspoon soy sauce
Instructions
- Clean out the inside of the chicken and if the feet are trussed, cut them loose.
- Sprinkle smoked paprika and salt (or other herbs and spices) on the chicken and place skin side up in the Varoma. If you’re worried about sticking, oil the Varoma first.
- In the bowl, chop the garlic 3 seconds/speed 6
- Add the chicken stock, the fish sauce and the soy sauce
- Place the Varoma on the Thermomix, and steam at Speed 2/Varoma/60 mins.
- Pierce the chicken to see if the juices are running clear. If so, it is cooked.
- If you want to crisp the skin, preheat the oven to 200C. Remove from the Varoma, and rub on some oil, and put in the oven for 10 mins or until it’s the desired crispiness.
- In the meantime, steam your vegetables in the Varoma using the same, already hot water.
- If you don’t wan to crisp the skin, set aside to cool down and use as desired.