This is an almost embarrassingly easy dish made from leftovers and opened jars in my fridge. Easier still, as it’s made of leftovers, I “cooked” it in 2 minutes in the microwave! The shame. You could leave out the chicken and add more vegetables for a veggie alternative.

Ingredients (for 1 portion)

– Small bowl (about 1 1/2 handfuls) of cooked pasta from the fridge. I used DeCecco Conchiglie.

– Left over cooked chicken thigh. I had a piece of my ras el hanout chicken thigh left over. Use whatever you have. Broken into bite sized pieces.

– 1 pack of fine asparagus, washed with the woody ends snapped off. You could alternatively use tenderstem broccoli, green beans, edamame beans etc… you get the idea.

– about 6 sundried tomatoes with garlic in olive oil – very finely chopped into small pieces.

– half a teaspoon of black olive tapenade (optional)

– sprig of fresh basil

– some Parmesan cheese

Method

In a sufficiently large Pyrex (or other microwaveable bowl), tip in the pasta, chopped tomatoes and a little of the oil, the tapenade, the torn chicken and the asparagus.

Cover and microwave on full power for about 1 minute. Stir it and give it another 30 seconds or more until the chicken is heated through and the asparagus is cooked but retains crunch.

Sprinkle over the torn basil leaves and grate the Parmesan over.

Eat.