Pasta with a tomato and burrata sauce – topped with baked chicken with pesto and mozzarella.
Pasta with tomato, burrata and baked mozzarella chicken is a dish that tastes of sun and summer. A really simple pasta dish – but with plenty of flavour and a creaminess that brings everything together.
I start by browning the chicken breast fillets quickly in a pan before topping them with pesto, mozzarella and cherry tomatoes and finishing them in the oven. While they look after themselves, I make the tomato sauce in the pan with plenty of sweet cherry tomatoes, shallot and garlic, which get a brief fry before I add white wine and fresh basil.
Once the tomatoes are soft and full of flavour, I blend everything together with a burrata. That gives a wonderfully creamy, silky tomato sauce, which I toss with freshly grated parmesan and freshly cooked pasta. The result is a rich, rounded pasta sauce that clings to every piece of pasta.
To serve, I top the pasta with the juicy baked chicken, the roasted tomatoes from the dish and a little extra parmesan. It is a dish that looks impressive but is actually very easy to make – and in around 40 minutes you have a lovely meal on the table.
A pasta dish that works both as everyday luxury and when you want to treat yourself a little more – and it suits every season.
Pasta with tomato, burrata and baked mozzarella chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 chicken breast fillets
- 4 tbsp pesto
- 150 g mozzarella, fresh or grated
- 200 g cherry tomatoes
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Olive oil
Pasta and sauce
- 500 g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 shallot, finely sliced
- 6 cloves garlic
- 7 sprigs basil, leaves only
- 400 g pasta
- 150 ml dry white wine
- 1 burrata
- 40 g parmesan, finely grated
- Dried basil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Olive oil
To serve
- Parmesan, to serve
- Extra pesto and fresh basil, optional
Method
Chicken
- Heat a pan with a splash of oil and brown the chicken breast fillets quickly over a high heat. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Place the fillets in an ovenproof dish or on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spread pesto over the tops and scatter the cheese on top – grated or sliced mozzarella.
- Add the cherry tomatoes alongside, drizzle with a little oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Put the dish in a preheated oven as soon as you start on the sauce – and bake at 200°C, conventional oven (top and bottom heat), for about 15-20 minutes – depending on the thickness of the fillets. Then let them rest while you finish the sauce, if the timing doesn’t quite line up.
Pasta and sauce
- Heat a good splash of oil in the same pan you fried the chicken in, and fry the tomatoes, shallot and garlic over a medium heat until the shallot is translucent. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Add the basil leaves and, if you like, a pinch of chilli flakes, and let it simmer for a couple more minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the pasta on in a large pot of salted water and cook until al dente. Remember to save some of the pasta water.
- Pour the white wine into the pan and let it reduce well while the pasta continues to cook.
- Tip the contents of the pan into a blender together with the burrata, and blend until you have a completely smooth sauce.
- Pour the sauce back into the pan, add the parmesan and a little dried basil, and stir until the cheese has melted.
- Toss the pasta with the sauce and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Adjust the consistency with a splash of pasta water if needed.
- Divide the pasta between 4 deep plates, top each with a chicken fillet and, if you like, a little extra pesto, and arrange the baked tomatoes on top.
- Sprinkle with a little grated parmesan and freshly ground pepper before serving – and fresh basil, if you like.
Nutrition
Premium
