Recipe: Tuscan Chicken Pasta

It’s around that time of the month when the stocked food in my fridge are beginning to run low and all I’ve got to work with for the fam’s lunch are a couple of frozen chicken breasts, some strips of bacon and pantry staples such as pasta and parmesan cheese.

Plus, I’m coming in from a late morning Zoom meeting (the bane of work-from-home moms, am I right?) and I’ve barely got enough time to prepare a meal, eat with the family and make it to my afternoon meetings.

Hmmm… what can I possibly whip up quickly and easily during my lunch hour?

Luckily, this recipe for Tuscan Chicken Pasta came to my rescue.

What I love about this is that it made use of the remaining frozen food as well as incorporated wholesome and fresh produce that made for a hearty and tasty meal for the family. Also, I didn’t have to use a lot of utensils to cook the dish; it’s basically a one-skillet recipe. (However, I made use of Hubby’s trusty wok as it gave me a sizable surface area to cook in and it distributed the heat quite well. I hope the wok purists won’t come after me!)

Check it out!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo spaghetti noodles, cooked per package instructions (reserve 1 cup of the water these were boiled in)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, thawed and filleted into 4 flat pieces
• salt to taste (I used Himalayan sea salt from Goodness MNL but you can use ordinary table salt)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 10 slices of bacon cut into short strips
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 to 6 fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 kilo Baguio spinach
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1/4 c grated parmesan
• 6 basil leaves for garnish

Procedure:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. After seasoning the chicken breast fillets with salt and pepper, fry them for 7 to 8 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove them from heat and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before slicing them into thin strips.

Using the same skillet, fry the bacon pieces over medium heat for 8 minutes or until they reach your desired crispiness. (I prefer my bacon to be fried just enough to curl up but not be too crispy). Drop them on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain them of excess oil. Set aside.

Again, using the same skillet, pour out half the fat from cooking the chicken and the bacon before sautéing the garlic and tomatoes over medium heat.

Add the spinach and cook for two minutes until the leaves are slightly wilted.

Season with salt and pepper prior to adding the heavy cream, parmesan and half of the reserved pasta water. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes then remove from heat. (If the sauce becomes to thick, stir in some more of the pasta water).

Toss the cooked pasta in sauce until well coated, then toss the chicken and bacon strips until evenly distributed.

Garnish with freshly torn basil leaves before serving.

Try this recipe and let me know how it goes!

Looking for other easy-to-cook dishes to try out? Check out my other kitchen adventures:

• Baked Salmon in Lemon Butter Sauce
• Basque Burnt Cheesecake Cups
• Easy Mac ‘n Cheese
• Calamansi Muffins
• Lemon Square Siksik sa Sarap Recipes
• Easy Creamy Pesto Chicken
• Banana Loaf Three Ways
• Sausage Pasta with Creamy Sundried Tomatoes
• Homemade Avocado Ice Cream Cake
• Slow Cooker Pork Roast
• Easy Shepherd’s Pie
• Homemade Mango Ice Cream
• Cheesy Baked Salmon
• Kare-Kare
• Thai Peanut Sauce
• Oatmeal Peanut Butter Breakfast Balls
• Red Velvet Cupcakes
• Five-Minute Lava Cake
• Carrot Cupcakes
• Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
• Mini-Blueberry Cheesecakes
• Frozen Mocha Cheesecake
• Chocolate Chip Cookies