Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta Shells (Diet)

Ingredients

• 675g raw skinless chicken breast
• 240g dry pasta shells
• 300ml pasteurised trim milk
• 10g cornflour
• 200g fresh spinach, washed and cooked through
• 30g sun-dried tomatoes, drained of oil
• 20g grated household hard cheese — staple
• 400g canned chopped tomatoes
• 30g tomato paste
• 6g garlic — staple
• 5ml neutral oil, MEASURED TOTAL for all cooking — staple
• 200g fresh carrots
• 200g fresh courgette
• 2g dried Italian herbs — staple
• 2g salt and black pepper, measured/to taste

Add this — Thanja

• 40g dry pasta shells
• 80ml cheap house cooking cream (not premium pouring cream)

Quantities are for HER TWO serves of the four-serve batch. Keep separate from Declan’s portions. Adds per Thanja serve: ~204 kcal, 14.3g fat, 15.6g carbs.

Method

1. Cook the measured pasta shells until just al dente and reserve a mug of cooking water.
2. Brown sliced breast in the measured oil in a wide non-stick pan, then set aside. Soften carrot and courgette with water in the same pan.
3. Add garlic, drained sun-dried tomatoes, paste, canned tomatoes and dried herbs. Simmer, then stir through spinach until thoroughly wilted.
4. Whisk cornflour into cold trim milk; add to the sauce and stir until thickened. Return chicken and simmer until it reaches 75°C. Stir through the measured hard cheese.
5. Toss all pasta and vegetables through the creamy tomato sauce, using reserved pasta water to loosen. For Thanja, heat her cooking cream into her share and add her separately cooked extra pasta.
6. Divide the shared base into four equal portions. Cook the listed extra starch separately (or in two separate ramekins for pies/lasagne), and add all Add this (Thanja) items only across her two portions. Heat cooking cream, cheese and any sauce extras thoroughly; fully cook any egg. No extra ingredients or unmeasured oil beyond those listed.

Notes

- A thickened skim-milk sauce replaces 250ml cooking cream, while sun-dried tomato, tomato, cheese and pasta shells retain the original character. - Original serves 4; this variant makes four. Declan: estimated 574 kcal, 54.7g protein, 9.8g fat and 65.0g carbs per serve, INCLUDING the served carb, every sauce/coating and all measured oil. - Thanja’s base plus add-on is approximately 778 kcal/serve, at least the 720 kcal full-plate comparison used for this original. Add-ons supply both fat and carbohydrate. Original estimates and ambiguous portion sizes are approximate; this is not an individual pregnancy calorie prescription. - Nutrition is estimated from RAW meat, DRY rice/pasta or explicitly cooked noodle weights, and drained canned weights. Raw breast assumes 23g protein/100g; trimmed pork 21g/5g fat; lean beef mince 21.5g/5g fat. Brands, cuts, sauce sugar and pack labels vary; recheck purchased labels and recalculate before quoting precise macros. No fat-draining calorie credit is assumed. - Cook at least 150g whole vegetable ingredients per serve into the meal or roast on its tray; no side salad, fresh herbs, premixed vegetables, mayo, aioli or sour cream. Keep raw meat separate, cook meat to 75°C and all vegetables through; never use precooked meat as the main protein. - Cool leftovers promptly in shallow containers, refrigerate/freeze promptly, and reheat piping hot throughout. Freeze portions not needed within two days. Rice requires prompt cooling too. Use pasteurised dairy, heat cheese/cream sauces thoroughly and cook egg fully set. - Parent protein alternatives remain possible, but these quantities/macros use the listed lean cut. Reprice all eligible options and recalculate portions, fat and calories for any swap; no lamb or unrequested steak.