Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Today on Facebook Live I shared with you one of my boy’s all-time favorite pasta dishes, Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta. Now if you called it that at our house, they probably would have no idea what you were talking about, but that is not the point. Around our house it is lovingly referred to as “Creamy Chicken Pasta.” This is a dish I made up one night long ago. And it quickly became a family favorite.
I wanted to change the name so that you would have some idea what to expect from the dish in terms of flavor. It is packed with Italian flavors and is a breeze to whip together on a busy weeknight. I have made my own homemade Alfredo Sauce for this dish before. I used the same bechamel sauce as a base as we discussed in the Beefy Mac recipe in my other post. However, let’s be real for just a moment. Life gets crazy busy sometimes and we all need a break. I have found several acceptable options for pre-made Alfredo Sauce in the store. Here is my rule, “can I pronounce all of the ingredients in the ingredient list on the label?” and “Would I eat those ingredients in my normal life?” if the answer is yes then we are good to go.
Just like last week I use my microplane and Le Creuset 5-quart Braiser in this recipe. I will link them again for you here. The Microplane is super handy and has multiple uses. Amazon carries one just like mine and it is only $14.95. And a Le Creuset Braiser is a LIFETIME piece of cookware. Amazon has several different colors. So I am linking the Oyster (grey) Braiser here. I linked the cream color on the Chicken Piccata post. So, keep in mind this is an investment piece. You can make so many different dishes in this piece. GiGi’s Baked Rice is one of them!
Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup fire roasted red peppers diced
- ½ cup sun dried tomatoes sliced (packed in oil or dried/reconstituted)
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp red pepper flake
- Black pepper
- 3-31/2 cups cooked diced chicken
- 15 oz jar alfredo sauce
- Pasta water
- 1 lb. pasta
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Heat water to boiling in 6-quart pasta pot for cooking pasta. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Add diced onion to hot olive oil and cook until it begins to soften. Add garlic, red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning and red pepper flake. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add diced chicken and mix well. Once chicken is heated through add your alfredo sauce. Stir and add a few grinds of black pepper.
- Once your pasta water is heated to a rolling boil salt your water and then add your pasta and cook according to package directions. You want your pasta al dente. Since I add the pasta to the sauce at the end, I often cook it one minute less than the package directions. (example: if the package says 9-11 minutes. I often cook my pasta for 8 minutes. Check it to make sure it isn’t hard in the center)
- While your pasta is cooking add 1-2 ladles of pasta water to your sauce to thin the sauce.
- When your pasta is finished cooking drain it and add the pasta directly to the sauce. Toss, add parmesan and serve immediately.
