Quick Meal: Peasant Chicken Pasta
It's 6:30. You've faced traffic or the subway to get home, and now it's time to make dinner for one. Resist the urge to order in, and cook up a quick meal, with leftovers that you can bring to work for lunch the next day, or freeze for a later dinner. This dish is healthy, flavorful, and can be cooked and on the table in twenty minutes. I call it "peasant" chicken pasta because it's good for emptying out the vegetable drawer and pasta boxes.
Ingredients
1 large chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1/3 lb short pasta, such as penne or farfalle
2 cups chopped vegetables of your choice - I like to use carrots, broccoli, red peppers and cauliflower or asparagus
4 large sundried tomato slices, julienned
1 shallot, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup prepared pesto sauce, or 5-6 Tbsp homemade pesto
A few pinches of salt for the pasta water
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan or Grana Padano (optional)
Instructions
Heat a large pot of generously salted water, and add the pasta when boiling. Heat a nonstick frying pan on medium, and sautee the chopped shallots and garlic, then add the chicken and sautee until almost cooked through. Add the vegetables and sundried tomatoes; cook until tender. When the pasta is al dente, drain, rinse, and add to the frying pan, then pour the pesto sauce or homemade pesto on top and mix thoroughly to combine and heat the sauce. If using homemade pesto, add a few tablespoons of chicken broth to keep everything moist. Add salt and pepper to taste, and top with grated cheese.
Vegetarian? Substitute very firm, well-drained tofu for the chicken, use vegetable broth, and a Parmesan with vegetable or microbial rennet.