Herbed Mushroom Pasta with Chicken
Angel hair, dried mushrooms, and a pouch of chicken, seasoned like the south of France and cooked in one pot.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 80
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 22 min
- water
- 1400 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
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Angel hair pasta | 8 oz | broken in half so it fits the pot |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, pouch or pop-top can | 7 oz pouch or 9-11 oz can | |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/4 cup | diced small at home |
| Dried mushrooms | 2 cups | sliced thin; thick slices never rehydrate |
| Dried garlic | 1/2 tsp | |
| Herbes de Provence | 2 tbsp | crushed between your fingers before packing |
| Shelf-stable grated parmesan | 1/4 cup | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | or two single-serve packets |
Method
- Put the mushrooms and tomatoes in a 2 L pot with 6 cups of water. Above about 7,000 feet, let them sit 10 to 15 minutes before you light the stove.
- Bring it to a boil, then add the pasta. Cook at a low boil for the time on the package, stirring so it does not weld to the bottom.
- Pour off the water, keeping a couple of tablespoons in the pot. That starch is the sauce.
- Stir in the chicken and its broth along with the oil.
- Add the cheese and herb bag last, off the heat. Cover for two minutes, stir, and serve.
Dried mushrooms are the reason this works. They go into the water before the pasta does, so by the time the noodles are done the mushrooms have rehydrated in what became a mushroom broth, and the pasta picked that flavor up on the way. Angel hair earns its place too: three or four minutes of boil time is a lot less fuel than penne.
The cheese, garlic, and herbs go in after the heat is off. Herbes de Provence is mostly leaves and flowers, and boiling them flattens the whole thing out. Draining is the one fussy step. Leave a little water behind so the parmesan and oil have something to cling to, or you get dry noodles with powder on them.
Packing
Broken pasta in one bag, mushrooms and tomatoes in a second, and cheese with the garlic and crushed herbs in a small third. Keep the oil packets with the chicken so the whole dinner is one bundle.
Variations
- Gluten-free or whole wheat pasta works, but check the package time; both usually need longer.
- No herbes de Provence at the store means parsley, thyme, and oregano in roughly equal parts.
- Swap the chicken for a tuna or salmon pouch if that is what is in the hiker box.
https://trailcooking.com/2019/10/10/one-pot-meal-herbed-pasta-de-provence