There are very few foods that I don’t like enough to eat. My list of “no’s” is kind of a weird list. You’ll probably never see any recipes with mushrooms in them on my site (sorry to all of the mushroom lovers out there) and I’m still learning/trying to love fish (I love shellfish though, strangely). I’m also not a huge fan of eggs or tomatoes that are larger than diced-size. I think it’s a textural issue. What foods do you just not enjoy eating?? It’s funny because every once in a while, I circle back around to try a few things that are on my “no” list just to see if I still dislike them. Sometimes their status changes- I used to not like olives or avocado. Now, I can’t imagine my life without those briny little nuggets of goodness or the creamy, divine-ness of an avocado. Another item that had pretty recently changed from a “no” to a “yes” for me was sun-dried tomatoes.
While I am not a huge fan of tomatoes, let me tell you, sun-dried tomatoes are a whole other ball game. It’s like tomato jerky sent from the Heavens. I think my dislike of tomatoes is purely textural because I enjoy diced tomatoes and everything else tomato. I just can’t do a big, honking slice or wedge of tomato. 😖 Sun-dried tomatoes, however, are tangy and chewy and so incredibly flavorful. My favorite ways to use sun-dried tomatoes are to throw them in a pasta, on a sandwich or make a pesto out of them.
One night I was making pasta… I had my chicken and spinach and knew that I was going to do some kind of a cream sauce, but it was missing something. It needed flavor and, boy, that’s exactly what these sun-dried tomatoes added to this dish. For starters, get the sun-dried tomatoes in the jar with the oil. Then take advantage of all of that flavor in the oil and use it to cook your chicken instead of using olive oil.
Start by adding 2 Tbsp of oil from the sun-dried tomato jar to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add your bite-sized chicken pieces…
Cook until the chicken is cooked through and has some nice color on it…
While the chicken is cooking, begin cooking your pasta (in a separate pot) according to package instructions.
Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet.
Add another 2 Tbsp of the sun-dried tomato oil back to the skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Be careful not to overcook the garlic, it will become bitter.
Now add the heavy cream, milk (I used 1%), cream cheese, paprika, onion powder, red pepper flakes and 1 tsp each of salt and pepper. Let the sauce simmer until the cream cheese is incorporated and the sauce has thickened, about 5-7 minutes.
Once the sauce has thickened, add the cooked chicken back to the skillet along with the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. The spinach might look like a lot now, but rest easy as once it wilts, it won’t be just a big skillet of spinach.
Once the spinach is wilted, scoop the pasta from its water and place it directly into the sauce. Top with fresh shaved Parmesan and then give it a good stir to coat the pasta. Re-season it with salt and pepper.
Look at all of that dreamy-ness! And check out all those pretty flecks from all of the sundried tomatoes 👆🏻 Pure flavor.
Now divide the pasta among the bowls. Go ahead and top it with some more fresh shaved Parmesan. Enjoy that creamy bowl of goodness.
| Prep Time | 5 Minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 Minutes |
| Servings |
Servings
|
- 2 Large Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 5 Oz Sun-dried Tomatoes, chopped reserve oil
- 4 Tbsp Oil from Sun-dried Tomato Jar, divided
- 1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1 Cup Milk
- 4 Oz Cream Cheese
- 4 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1/2 Cup Freshly Shredded Parmesan, Plus more for garnishing
- 2 Large Handfuls of Fresh Spinach
- 1 Tsp Paprika
- 1 Tsp Onion Powder
- 1-2 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- Salt and Pepper
- 8 Oz Penne Pasta
Ingredients
|
|
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add 2 Tbsp sun-dried tomato oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat and add chicken to the skillet. Cook until chicken is cooked through and has nice color. Remove from skillet.
- Add 2 more Tbsp of sun-dried tomato oil back to the skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Meanwhile begin cooking your pasta (in a separate pot) according to package directions.
- Add the cream, milk, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, onion powder, paprika and one tsp EACH of salt and pepper.
- Simmer over medium heat until the cream cheese is melted into the sauce and the sauce is thick and creamy.
- Lower heat to medium-low. Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, cooked chicken and spinach. Cook until the chicken is warm again and the spinach is wilted.
- Remove pasta directly from water and place it into the sauce. Top with more freshly shaved Parmesan cheese and stir well to coat the pasta. Re-season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
- Divide pasta among bowls and top with more fresh Parmesan, if desired.
Welcome to Cupcakes and Sarcasm! My name is Maggie and I am the creator of C & S. I am a wife and mom of two beautiful kiddos. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and now live in Northeast Ohio with my family. I have been cooking and baking since I was a kid. I decided in 2017 that I wanted to share my passion (and recipes) with all of you! On this site, you’ll find easy and delicious recipes- both savory and sweet. I’ll also sprinkle in some stories of parenting and our adventures along the way.