After my post about my reliance on jars of sauce and being unable to find things to do with the ingredients I had in my cupboard, it seemed quite apt that I was invited to take part in the Campbell’s Capsule Cupboard Challenge.

Campbell’s Condensed Soup have partnered with renowned Michelin-starred chef Gary Rhodes to develop a “Capsule Cupboard” which, rather like a woman’s capsule wardrobe enables you to create many outfits from a small number of pieces, gives you opportunity to create dozens of meals using just twelve store cupboard ingredients along with a tin of condensed soup.

The essentials are:

Campbell’s sent me a couple of tins of their Low Fat Chicken Condensed Soup with which to create my own recipe. I am sharing it here but it will also appear on the Campbell’s website as my entry into their recipe competition. Let me know what you think!

Splodz’s Yellow and Green Pasta Bake

Taking just half an hour in total, I wanted to create something colourful and full of flavour as well as something very satisfying. This recipe (which I tried a couple of times) made plenty for two good sized portions as a mid-week meal straight from the oven, plus enough for a couple of lunches the following day (which can be eaten hot or cold).

150g (three handfuls) of Penne Pasta
Head of Broccoli
Bunch of Spring Onion
Handful of Frozen Sweetcorn
Yellow Pepper
Two Chicken Breasts
Tin of Campbell’s Low Fat Chicken Condensed Soup
Handful of Mature Cheddar Cheese

Heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Cook the pasta in boiling water with a little salt and oil for ten minutes, or until just cooked.

Dice the chicken breast fillets into small bite-sized pieces and fry in a little oil until cooked through.

Break the broccoli into small florets – you want to be left with a bit of bite but you don’t want to be using a knife to eat this dish with. Don’t keep much of the stalk as this doesn’t go soft when baked.

Dice the pepper and chop the spring onion into smallish pieces.

Drain the pasta and place into a bowl along with the cooked chicken and all the prepared vegetables.

Stir in the Campbell’s Low Fat Chicken Condensed Soup until everything is coated. Add around half a soup can of water to give the dish enough liquid, and stir through well.

Pour the soup-covered ingredients into an oven proof dish and cover with grated cheddar – mature cheese works particularly well as it has a bite to it.

Bake in the oven (uncovered) for 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the sauce is bubbling.

Serve in warm bowls.

The jury (my husband and I!) gave my recipe the thumbs up. Using the soup to create the pasta bake sauce worked really well – it gave a good flavour to the dish, worked well with the vegetables I chose, and made everything creamy. Remember, don’t add any salt to your vegetables or chicken when preparing, there is some in the chicken soup, you don’t need any more.

A quick, easy, filling and colourful evening meal for busy days using foods I almost always have in my kitchen.

Let me know if you try it!

Disclaimer: I was sent a couple of tins of soup so that I could create a recipe and share it on my blog.

PS – My recipe has been included as one of seven on the Campbell’s website, where you can vote for your favourite. If you like my recipe I’d really appreciate a vote here; it’s the bottom on in the list. (Votes to be cast by 4th January 2013.) Thank you!!