Italian Chicken Pasta

Another fancy pasta recipe!  I've been hooked on this whole grain pasta I bought a couple of weeks ago at Sam's Club, so I've been trying out quite a few new pasta recipes.  This one involves tomatoes, chicken, garlic, and Italian seasoning.

First, heat the olive oil in a skillet and start boiling some water for the pasta.  You're going to use what seems like a lot of olive oil - 2 tablespoons - but remember, this also is the base for your pasta sauce!  While the oil is heating up, chop your tomato and chicken into bite sized pieces.

Add some Italian seasoning and garlic to the olive oil in the skillet, and season your chicken as well with the garlic, Italian seasoning, and a little salt. Then add the chicken to the skillet.  It should sizzle when you add it - if it doesn't, you didn't let the olive oil heat up enough!

Meanwhile, your water should be boiling by now so add the pasta and let it cook according to package directions.  Once the chicken appears to be almost fully cooked, add the chopped tomatoes.  I also added about 1/2 a tablespoon of butter to thicken the sauce a little, but I think next time I may skip the butter to keep this on the healthier side.  I'll put it in parentheses in the recipe below, but I think it would taste just as good without the butter.

Let this all simmer for about 5 minutes as the pasta finishes cooking, then drain the pasta, mix everything together and serve immediately!

Italian Chicken Pasta

(Serves 2)

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 servings spaghetti noodles
• 1 large tomato
• (1 tbsp butter)
• Garlic
• Italian seasoning (I use 5 Seasons Italian Seasoning - you can get it at Walmart!)
• Salt

Directions

• Cook the pasta according to package instructions.
• Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small skillet.  Add garlic and Italian seasoning as desired to the olive oil.
• Chop the chicken and tomato.  Season the chicken with salt, garlic, and Italian seasoning as desired.
• Add the chicken to the hot olive oil.
• When the chicken appears to be almost fully cooked (approximately 3-5 minutes after placing in the skillet), add the tomatoes.  (Add 1 tbsp butter to the sauce to thicken.)  Let simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the pasta finishes cooking.
• Drain the pasta, and mix it in with the chicken and tomato mixture.  Serve immediately.

This was my own creation, no inspiration from someone else's blog!