Tomato Alfredo Pasta with Chicken and Spinach

Original Link: http://kitchentrialanderror.blogspot.com/2010/08/creamy-tomato-pasta.html

The recipe asked for real tomatoes and there is a recipe to make the tomato pasta sauce, but since I didn’t have a tomato garden like the original cook did, I used a bottle of the only tomato sauce I had in hand.

My version also has chicken in it. You can use chicken breast for a healthier choice, but I like dark meat so I have deboned chicken thighs. I also didn’t have fresh basil so I used spinach.

Ingredients:

3 cups of Radiatori Pasta

1 Chicken Thigh

Oregano, Garlic Powder and Fresh ground pepper

4 cloves of Garlic

2 cups Spinach

1 cup Pasta Sauce

1/3 cup pasta water

1 small sweet onion (or half regular size sweet onion)

1 Jalapeño (opnional)

2 tsp flour

¾ cup 2% milk (original had whole milk)

¼ cup half and half

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Prep the chicken. Cut off all the fat from the meat. I like to start at the outside of the meat and take the fat off and then work in the inside. As I’m taking the fat off, I cut and separate the layers of muscle of the meat and cut them into bite sizes. You can make bite size chicken any way you like. 

Then I sprinkle the Oregano, garlic powder and fresh ground pepper into the chicken and mix. I usually don’t measure out the spices and just eye ball it. I think I had about ½ tsp of each. You can use less or more of the spices. Mix then let that sit on the side. 

Now boil water for the pasta. As that is coming to a boil, I wash and cut the spinach and put on the side.  I pile the spinach on top of each other and then cut. Also if you’re using fresh onions and jalapeños, cut them now too. For the jalapeños, the spice is in the seeds and the ribbing. I took all of that out. Don't forget to mince the garlic. 2 cloves for the alfredo sauce and 2 cloves to cook the chicken with.

When the water comes to a boil, but a good amount of salt into the pot then put the pasta into the boiling water.

As the pasta is boiling, make the alfredo sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth and cook about 2 minutes, until brown.  Then whisk in the milk, half & half, and 2 cloves of garlic and season with salt & pepper. While continuously whisking, bring to a simmer and cook about 2 minutes until thickened. You can fish out the garlic with a slotted spoon and discard but I kept it because I like garlic. Then whisk in the parmesan. If the sauce is too thick, add 1/3 cup of the hot pasta cooking water to the alfredo sauce to thin it out a bit. Remove from heat. 

When the pasta is done, drain the pasta and save some of the pasta water to add to the sauce if you didn’t add into the alfredo sauce. Put the pasta on the side.

Oil the pot you used to cook the pasta, add the garlic and cook the chicken. When the chicken is 2/3 done, add the onion and jalapeño if you are using fresh onions and jalapeño. But since I’m using left over onions and jalapeño from a different meal I added it when the chicken was almost done. 

Then add the 1 cup of pasta sauce into the pot with the chicken. Bring to a simmer. Then add the alfredo sauce. If it’s too thick, you can add the pasta water to the sauce. Then when it is almost done, add the spinach into the sauce. Let it cook for about 3 minutes and add the pasta and mix. Remove from heat and serve.