Sun Dried Tomato Pasta with Chicken
Servings 4 servings
Chicken and pasta in a creamy sun dried tomato sauce that comes together in just over 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces ziti or other pasta of choice
- 4 small chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons butter
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 4 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 ¼ cups chicken broth
- ¾ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese plus extra for garnish
- ½ - ¾ cup sun dried tomato cut into strips (Note 1)
- 1 cup baby spinach optional
- ¼ cup basil leaves sliced
Instructions
- Cook ziti according to packet directions MINUS 1 minute. Just before draining, scoop out ½ cup of pasta cooking water.
- Meanwhile, sprinkle chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Pound to 1″ thickness if they are thicker than that.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes on each side, then remove onto a plate, cover loosely with foil to rest.
- Melt butter in the skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 1 minute.
- Add mushrooms and cook until golden – about 2 minutes.
- Add broth, cream, parmesan and sun dried tomato. Stir and bring to a simmer. Simmer rapidly for 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Season sauce to taste with more salt and pepper.
- Add pasta, cooking water and baby spinach. Toss for 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce has thickened – the starch in the pasta cooking water will emulsify with the fat in the sauce to thicken it.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta to serving plates. Top with chicken then spoon over remaining sauce in the skillet. Garnish with fresh basil and parmesan. Serve!
Notes
Note 1: Sun-dried tomatoes in oil are better, but vacuum-packed sun-dried tomatoes will work fine as well.
The sauce for the pasta for this recipe is more generous than most, creating enough to provide a sauce for the chicken as well. If you would like even more sauce, add more cream and parmesan – 2 tsp of parmesan for every ¼ cup extra cream, and don’t forget to season to taste!
Nutrition Information
Calories: 790, Carbohydrates: 47g, Protein: 65g, Fat: 36g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Cholesterol: 233mg, Sodium: 1175mg, Potassium: 1231mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 1800IU, Vitamin C: 12mg, Calcium: 277mg, Iron: 2.4mg
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
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