A skillet meal of seasoned, sautéed chicken breasts, in a tomato basil pasta sauce with bow tie pasta and finished with Italian cheese.
Chicken in Tomato Basil Sauce with Bow Tie Pasta
When I don't know what I want to eat, much less cook, pasta always comes to the rescue! With some pantry basics and some good seasoning, you can whip up a delicious meal in short time. This is one of those meals.So easy and here's all you need:
- Chicken
- Seasonings for the chicken
- Cooking oil/fat
- Pasta
- Onion and garlic as seasoning vegetables
- Canned tomatoes and tomato sauce
- Heavy cream
- Fresh or dried herbs
- Italian-style cheese
Pasta is a pantry staple in my house and it should be in yours too! It's one thing you will always find in my house and I keep a few varieties on hand all of the time - elbows, rotini, spaghetti, penne and sometimes, farfalle aka bow ties - many I have on subscription with Amazon. I went with the bowties today.
For a sauce, I decided to go with a classic tomato basil sauce. In the summertime, I use fresh tomatoes, and trust me, it sure makes such a huge difference in a sauce and especially with a homemade fresh tomato spaghetti sauce!
We aren't there yet, so canned is a great substitute and makes a fine sauce, and those are always a pantry staple too. Today I used 2 cans of mild Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained, because those are also a pantry staple for me and I recently added them to my subscription, so I have plenty on hand! Regular diced tomatoes may certainly be substituted.
I also happened to have heavy cream in the house, though I've used half and half and even whole milk before when making this sauce. Lower fat milk products could also be used, though I feel they make sauces too thin, so I suggested using a little cornstarch if you go that route.
I guess you can say that with a well-stocked pantry, this is one of those "pantry meals" y'all!
I wanted to melt some cheese on top so you can either pass the skillet in the oven to melt the cheese, or just simply cover the skillet until the cheese melts. I wanted the pasta good and hot and the cheese nice and melty so I went with the oven.
Here's how to make my Chicken in Tomato Basil Sauce with Bow Tie Pasta. As always, full recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, are a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll past the step-by-step pictures below.
Combine seasonings for the chicken and sprinkle on both sides of chicken breasts. Add butter to olive oil in skillet and heat over medium high heat until bubbly. Add chicken and sauté until browned and completely cooked through. Remove and set aside; cut into chunks. Meanwhile, prepare the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup or more of the pasta water. Add onions to the skillet drippings from the chicken and cook until tender; add garlic and cook another minute.
Stir in the tomatoes and sauce; add seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Stir in cream until warmed through.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add chicken to skillet along with any accumulated juices and stir in the other tablespoon of butter. Toss until coated and warmed through. Add the pasta, toss, adding reserved pasta water if needed to thin sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
Top with the shredded cheese, cover and transfer skillet to oven about 10 minutes
Just until cheese has melted thoroughly.
Chicken in Tomato Basil Sauce with Bow Tie Pasta
Yield: About 4 to 6 Servings
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min
A skillet meal of seasoned, sautéed chicken breasts, in a tomato basil pasta sauce with bow tie pasta and finished with Italian cheese.
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Cajun or Creole seasoning, or to taste, optional
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
For the Sauce:
- 6 ounces farfalle bowtie pasta (about 2-1/2 cups)
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies (like Rotel), undrained
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley, plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1-1/2 cups shredded Italian-style cheese
Instructions
- Combine seasonings and sprinkle on both sides of chicken breasts.
- Add butter to olive oil in skillet and heat over medium-high heat until bubbly. Add chicken and cook, until browned and completely cooked through. Remove and set aside.
- Meanwhile, boil pasta in a large pot of well-salted water, according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water; set aside.
- Add onions to the skillet drippings from the chicken and cook until tender; add garlic and cook another minute. Stir in the tomatoes and sauce; add seasonings.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Stir in cream until warmed through.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut chicken into cubes, add to skillet with any accumulated juices and add remaining tablespoon butter. Toss until coated and warmed through.
- Add the pasta, toss, adding reserved pasta water if needed to thin sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
- Top with the shredded cheese, cover and transfer skillet to oven about 10 minutes, just until cheese has melted thoroughly.
Notes:
I prepared my bowties in the Fasta Pasta for 10 minutes, stirred and cooked another 5 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining. Regular diced tomatoes may be used instead of Rotel. When summer tomatoes are in season, use them! Half and half or whole milk may be used in place of heavy cream, however, if you substitute a lower fat milk, whisk with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Add to sauce, bring to a quick boil to thicken and reduce heat back until everything is warmed through, then add the chicken.
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