Pasta with Lemon Chicken and Sun-dried Tomatoes

By á-6055

Ingredients

• 4 skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil
• 8 oz of Penne pasta
• 4 garlic cloves minced. (In this recipe it's important to use fresh garlic. I use my micro planer to get it very finely minced)
• 1/8 tsp of crushed red pepper (or to taste)
• 1.5 cups of chicken broth
• 3 Tbsp of lemon juice (fresh)
• 2 Tbsp of butter
• 1/3 cup of sun-dried tomatoes (in oil, pat them a bit with a paper towel to reduce oil and fat)
• 4 cups of fresh baby spinach (6 oz)
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp of Italian herb seasoning

Preparation

Step 1

Start a pot of water to boil for your pasta.

Place your chicken in a sauté pan and add 1" of water. Make sure the chicken is almost covered. Bring to a simmer and cook the chicken for approx 15 minutes or until no pink remains. You might need to turn the chicken when half way through in order to make sure it cooks through. Cut open a piece and make sure no pink remains before proceeding. When cooked take it out of the sauté pan and place on a cutting board. You are going to take two forks and shred the chicken. It's easy. Just hold one fork in each hand. Poke them in the chicken near each other and pull apart. If you are going along the grain of the chicken it will pull apart easily and you'll get shreds. If it's not exactly right just adjust the position of the chicken and try again. Even if you are just getting chunks that okay. You'll master this technique eventually. You can cube the chicken too, if you prefer. Set aside while you work on the sauce.

Pour the water out of the pan and wipe it clean. Cut the sundried tomatoes into narrow strips if they came whole. Set them aside. Add one Tbl of olive oil, the garlic, the crushed pepper and cook on medium 2 -3 minutes. You do not want to brown the garlic. Just get it all heated.

Add the chicken broth and the lemon. Increase heat to high.

While this is getting going cook your pasta in a pot of boiling water according to the directions on the box. Should take about 8 minutes to cook.

Go back to your sauce. When the sauce comes to a boil turn it to a gentle boil and cook for about 10 minutes or until the liquid is reduced to about a cup.

Reduce heat to very low and add the butter and the sun-dried tomatoes. At this point if your pasta is not yet cooked, turn off the heat under the sauce, and wait. When the pasta is done, drain it and put it and the chicken in a pasta bowl. Then finish the sauce by adding the spinach. You can turn the heat on low, and just toss the spinach around until it wilts a bit. (If the pan was turned off you need to get the sauce warm again before adding the spinach). I like mine to taste really fresh so I don't cook it much at all. Add this whole mixture to the pasta and then add the Parmesan cheese and mix. Add the herb mixture and mix again and you are ready to serve.

This dish stands on its own very well. All I add is some crunchy bread to dip in the sauce or serve the bread with butter and you are all set.