Penne Al Fresco

By sherryl61

Preparing a tomato-garlic sauce from scratch in the microwave will fill your kitchen with the aromas of an authentic Italian restaurant. The recipe comes together easily and takes pasta to a whole new level!

Ingredients

• 4 4 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 2 2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
• 3 3 3 cups uncooked mezze penne
• pasta
• 3 3 3 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup dry white wine such as
• Chardonnay
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 tsp each salt and coarsely
• ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 1 1/4 1/4 cups lightly packed fresh basil
• leaves, divided
• 1 1 1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 1/4 cup packed)
• 2 2 2 cups diced grilled chicken
• breasts
• Additional grated fresh
• Parmesan cheese and coarsely
• ground black pepper (optional)

Details

Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 30mins
Adapted from us.mc1809.mail.yahoo.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Spray microwave safe covered glass or stoneware dish with olive oil using Kitchen Spritzer. Slice garlic into dish. Add tomatoes. Cover; microwave on HIGH 4-5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to burst, stirring after 2 minutes. Chop tomatoes.

2. Add pasta, broth, wine, salt and black pepper.

3. Return dish to microwave; cover and microwave on HIGH 16-18 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring after 10 minutes. Meanwhile, coarsely chop basil. Reserve 2 tbsp for garnish. Grate cheese.

4. Carefully remove dish from microwave and remove lid, lifting away from you. Add remaining basil, cheese and chicken to baker; mix well. Garnish with reserved 2 tbsp basil, additional Parmesan cheese and black pepper, if desired.

Nutrients per serving: Light (about 1 cup): Calories 240, Total Fat 2.5 g, Saturated Fat .5 g, Cholesterol 25 mg, Carbohydrate 35 g, Protein 17 g, Sodium 450 mg, Fiber 2 g

Cook’s Tips: An additional 3/4 cup chicken broth can be substituted for the wine, if desired.

Any tube-shaped pasta requiring 9-11 minutes cook time, such as penne or rigatoni, can be substituted for the mezze penne pasta.

To grill chicken, season 2 chicken breasts, about 6 oz each, with salt and black pepper. Heat grill pan over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Spray pan with oil. Cook chicken 4-6 minutes or until grill marks appear. Turn chicken over; cook 4-6 minutes or until center of chicken
is no longer pink and thermometer registers 170°F.