Vegan Chicken Marsala Pasta

I've never had Chicken Marsala Pasta before, but the first time I made it myself, I knew right away that it had the potential to be one of my favorite pasta dishes. This may sound cheesy now, but it actually was the case for the entire Zucker&Jagdwurst team. The creamy sauce tastes incredibly slightly sweet and flavorful at the same time thanks to the Marsala wine – we could bathe in it. Together with crispy vegan chicken and pasta, this is definitely a great dish for your cooking routine.

But where does this brilliant idea of making a pasta dish from sweet wine come from? Let's start with the heart of the dish: Marsala wine. This Sicilian fortified wine is one of the most popular and well-known dessert wines. It originates in the town of Marsala, located in western Sicily, and was later brought to England via British traders, making it famous around the world (source).

Chicken Marsala, on the other hand, is an Italian-American dish. It's rumored to have originated in the 19th century, where it was prepared by English families living in western Sicily. It later became more and more popular, especially in America, which is why it's still cooked mostly there (source). Today, Chicken Marsala is often served with pasta, mashed potatoes, rice, or as a stir-fry.

During the preparations of this recipe, it was more difficult than expected to find vegan Marsala wine. As you probably know, wine is often clarified with gelatin, which is why we always have to find out in advance which wines are vegan. Nowadays, you will find a note on many bottles (written or in the form of a seal) that tells you that the wine is vegan. If you don't see a hint, a short research on the internet usually helps. Still, we couldn't find any vegan Marsala Wine in the supermarkets in our area, so we cooked the Marsala wine ourselves with vegan red wine, sugar, rum, and coffee, according to this recipe from Herr Grün Kocht. We can only recommend the recipe to you as it's quick and easy! We were pretty grateful because we have actually never tried Marsala wine before and therefore would not know at all what flavor to look for.

Since the classic version of this dish includes chicken, we're very happy that Planted supports us with this recipe. Planted produces plant-based meat alternatives and wants to change the eating habits of all of us – for the animals, the climate, and us! We’ve already tested our way through their products and highly recommend them to you! For our Marsala pasta, we used the Planted.chicken Natur which consists of just four ingredients: pea protein, pea fiber, canola oil, and water. It's made without any additives, but instead contains vitamin B12, yay! You can find the plant-based chicken in different varieties such as plain, with herbs & lemon, or in a BBQ marinade. You could also marinate it yourself and use it for wraps, bowls, as a side dish with rice or pasta. You can buy the products of Planted in their online shop – use our code “ZUCKER30“ to get 30% off (minimum order value 19.80 €, valid until May 20, 2021). Superb!