Recipe: Chicken and Penne Pasta with Wilted Spinach and Grape Tomatoes

To be honest, there's really not much of a story behind tonight's meal. Haha. I wanted to make something quick and easy, and I was craving that delicious pop of a hot grape tomato, so I paired chicken and pasta with fresh grape tomatoes and baby spinach to create a simple, summery dish.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 8 oz. penne pasta, or other small pasta (farfalle, medium shells, rigatoni, etc.)
• Olive oil (enough to lightly coat the bottom of a large pan)
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into 2 inch long pieces
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1-2 cups grape/cherry tomatoes
• 4-6 oz. baby spinach (remove any big stems from leaves)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 5-6 basil leaves, chiffonade cut
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste (at least 1 tsp.)
• Italian seasoning, to taste
• Italian cheese, as desired

Directions

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil, then add pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 11-15 minutes). In the meantime, heat a little olive oil and 2 tbsp. butter in a large pan over medium heat. Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper, then add it to the pan. Cook until no longer pink on the outside, then add the onion and continue to cook until the onion pieces soften slightly. Add the remaining butter along with the white wine, tomatoes, spinach, and garlic and cook over medium heat. Add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning as the mixture cooks. When the pasta is done, drain it and return it to the pot with a splash of olive oil and a little butter. Add the chicken mixture to it, along with the fresh basil, and toss to combine. Serve with grated Italian cheese and additional crushed red pepper flakes, as desired.

Simple, fresh, flavorful. What more can I say? The hot grape tomatoes pop when you bite into them, and their juices blend perfectly into the garlicky, buttery flavors in the dish. Wilted spinach adds color and flavor and tender chicken and pasta are always the perfect combination.

Recipe: Pancetta, Tomato, and Avocado Pasta

First of all, my apologies for not posting since last week—I just got hired part-time at Macy's, so between job training, culinary classes, and my first few days of work, I've been busy, tired, and I've had no time to cook. I finally had time to sit down yesterday and pick out some recipes for the end of this week and early next week and I finally got to try out the "Gourmet" setting on my new camera tonight. The recipe I'm sharing tonight is summery, so it's a little out of place with the cool weather and rain we've been having lately, but it was so good, I can look past that. I came across it here and was really intrigued when I read that this warm pasta dish, made with familiar Italian ingredients, like tomatoes and pancetta, had cubes of creamy avocado tossed in at the end. Avocado is typically served as is (like a slice on a sandwich or cubes tossed in a salad) or blended into guacamole and I rarely see it in a cooked dish like this (though I've read a little bit about trying to use avocado as a pasta sauce...kind of weird). Mixing rich pieces of avocado into pasta with bright grape tomatoes, crispy pancetta, and a dash of red pepper flakes creates a light dish that's absolutely delicious and pretty unique.

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 lb. short pasta (I used rotini, but gemelli, penne, or farfalle are good options too)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil, or enough to cover the bottom of a large pan
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup pancetta, cut into small cubes (I bought a 4 oz. pack of pre-cut pieces, which makes this dinner a little easier and quicker to make)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1 cup canned diced or chopped tomatoes, measured with their juices
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup reserved cooking fluid
• 1 large avocado, cubed
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• Basil, fresh or dried, to taste

Directions
Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions (about 8-10 minutes). Drain, return to the pot, cover, and set aside. In the meantime, heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and pancetta and cook until the pancetta gets a little crispy around the edges (about 5 minutes). Add the grape tomatoes and cover the pan, cooking the tomatoes until they begin to gently "pop" their skins (the skins will split and crack and the tomatoes will be slightly soft; about 5 minutes). Add the canned tomatoes, chicken broth, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, and basil (if using dry) and cooked for 5 minutes, allowing the mixture to blend. Pour the tomato and pancetta mixture into the pot of pasta and toss to mix. Add the avocado and gently toss to combine (avocado is very soft and will break down and smear everywhere if you stir too vigorously). Top with fresh basil and Italian cheese (Pecorino-Romano is best) if desired.

This dish has a perfect combination of brightness, creaminess, and saltiness. I absolutely love the taste of a cooked grape tomato as it bursts in my mouth—it has a mix of sweetness and acidity and, though I've used the word repeatedly throughout this post, it really has a beautiful bright taste that wakes up your mouth. The creamy avocado is so subtle in this dish, but its creaminess helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes in this dish and adds a unique texture to the dish. Salty pancetta and a sprinkling of Pecorino-Romano are the perfect compliment to the other flavors in the dish. I'm not sure how well this will reheat, because avocado is generally not cooked (in this dish, it's tossed in at the end of cooking and the hot pasta helps warm it), but I think it would work well as a cold pasta salad, or you could set the avocado cubes in a dish at the table so people can add their own to their dish at the table.

Recipe: BLT Pasta

As soon as I saw the bacon in the fridge, I knew I had to make something with it besides the stereotypical bacon-and-eggs breakfast. Fortunately for me, this month's Food Network magazine had a little recipe booklet nestled inside called "50 Things to Make with Bacon." Number 18 on the list was BLT Pasta—something that I'm sure the newest winner of The Next Food Network Star, Jeff Mauro, host of The Sandwich King, would appreciate—and I thought it sounded like the perfect use for that salty bacon staring back at me from the fridge. Juicy grape tomatoes, crisp red onion, wilted arugula, and of course bacon, all tossed with pasta makes for a summery, but filling dish. Oh, and did I mention the tomatoes and red onion are cooked in bacon fat? As some of my sorority sisters are fond of saying (quoting a famous Wife Swap moment), "Bacon is good for you!"—okay, so maybe it's not, but it's definitely delicious.

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 8 slices bacon, cooked then chopped
• 1 red onion,chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste (don't be heavy-handed, unless you want a spicy dish)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 5 cups grape tomatoes
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 12 oz. penne pasta (I used mostaccioli, which looks like penne without ridges)
• 4 cups arugula
• Basil leaves

Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add the penne. Follow the package for cooking times (about 11 minutes), then drain. In the meantime, cook the bacon slices in a large skillet. Remove once crispy and lay out on a paper towel to soak up some of the grease. Save 3 tbsp. of the bacon fat/drippings in the skillet. Add the red onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to the skillet and cook until slightly tender. Add the grape tomatoes and cook for 12 minutes. In the skillet with the tomatoes and onion, add the heavy cream and cook for 2 minutes. Toss the mixture with the penne, arugula, and basil. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.
(Side note: I used about 10 oz. pasta, 3 pints grape tomatoes, and 3-5 oz. arugula, since I'm only feeding three people, and it worked out just as well)

This dish is both light and rich—the plump grape tomatoes and bitter arugula add brightness while the bacon fat blended with cream creates a rich creaminess in the dish. The freshly cooked crispy bacon is so much better than any imitation salad bar bacon-in-a-jar could be and adds a nice crunch. To be completely honest, I don't even like BLT sandwiches, because I'm not a big fan of raw tomatoes, but this dish reinvents the sandwich and makes it worth the few pounds you'll gain eating the bacon fat.