Chicken, Chili and Caper Pasta
Penne with olives, capers, and a pouch of chicken. Sharp enough to wake up a tired palate.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 103
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 14 min
- total time
- 19 min
- water
- 900 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Penne | 7 oz | any short shape works, avoid long noodles in a small pot |
|---|---|---|
| Foil-pouch chicken | two 5 oz pouches | replaces fresh chicken breast |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | stands in for butter |
| Garlic | 2 cloves | or 1 tsp granulated garlic |
| Dried red chili flakes | 1/2 tsp | or one fresh red chili if you are car camping |
| Kalamata olives | 1/4 cup | pitted, from a pouch or drained jar |
| Capers | 2 tbsp | drained, carried in a small screw-top tub |
| Dried parsley | 2 tsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Boil about 900 ml of water with a pinch of salt. Add the penne and cook until it is just soft, around 10 minutes.
- Do not dump the water. Pour off all but a shallow half inch and leave the pasta in the pot.
- Kill the heat to a low flame. Stir in the oil, garlic, chili flakes, olives, and capers. Thirty seconds is enough to bloom them.
- Add the chicken straight from the pouch, breaking up the larger pieces. Stir until the starchy water and oil pull together into a loose sauce.
- Add the parsley, salt, and pepper. Eat from the pot.
This started as a stovetop dinner with a seared chicken breast and a pan sauce. On trail there is no pan and no second burner, so the chicken becomes a foil pouch and the whole thing happens in the pasta pot. Butter becomes olive oil because butter does not travel.
The part worth keeping is the pasta water. Leaving a shallow layer in the pot instead of draining it gives the oil something to bind with, and the starch turns it into a sauce rather than a slick. Olives and capers are doing the flavor work; they are salty and shelf-stable, which is a rare combination worth carrying.
Packing
Pasta, chili flakes, parsley, and granulated garlic go in one bag. Olives and capers ride in a small screw-top tub so their brine stays out of your food bag. Chicken pouches pack flat against the side of the pack.
Variations
- A hard cheese grated in at the end makes it richer, but drops the dairy-free option.
- Swap the chicken for a tuna pouch. Same weight, more salt, cooks the same.
- Sun-dried tomatoes rehydrate in the pasta water and add sweetness against the capers.
https://www.matprat.no/oppskrifter/rask/kyllingfilet-med-pasta-chili-og-kapers