A friend brought us some sun-dried tomatoes all the way from Italy so I looked up the following recipe on the Internet. It turned out to be a hit, so I felt I should record it here so I have it on hand the next time I make it. The recipe didnt provide exact quantities so Ive added my own for future reference.
Since I have meat-eaters in the house, I thought I should add some more protein. I roasted some chicken and added it on top of the pasta when serving.
Sun-dried Tomato, Chicken, and Parmesan Pasta
Okay, so no points for presentation, but it was really tasty. The boys didnt even complain that they had to eat spinach or basil green things they would normally balk at.
Ingredients:
- 300g dry Barilla Spaghetti no. 5 cook for 8 minutes
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil my sun-dried tomatoes were whole pieces without olive oil so I chopped them up in the food processor and added olive separately (below).
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Fresh garlic a few cloves minced.
- 300g Baby spinach
- Fresh basil
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus extra for sprinkling over pasta before serving
- Pine nuts DH doesnt like these, but we tried adding some chopped macadamias for a bit of crunch and they were an excellent addition
- 2 chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs, seasoned with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper
Method:
- Roast chicken in the oven at 180C for 30 minutes (or until cooked through). To prevent drying out, leave the skin on or cover with a bit of aluminum foil.
- Cook spaghetti for 8 minutes. Drain while reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and saute until spinach just wilts (about 2 minutes).
- Toss drained spaghetti into pot with spinach. Thin with pasta water as needed, season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss in basil and parmesan. Serve warm topping each serving with crushed macadamias, sliced pieces of chicken and extra parmesan.