Monday, September 16, 2013

Chicken Florentine Pasta

Time for some pasta! I was looking thru some of The Pioneer Woman's pasta recipe and wanted to try almost all of them! Haha, Ok, one at a time! Decided to cook this since I have all the ingredients except the spinach which I substituted with a different kind of spinach.



I made this simple yet tasty pasta from The Pioneer Woman's recipe. Recipe uses a mixture of white wine and chicken stock. Since I do not have anymore white wine, I have used all chicken stock. I recently bought a carton of Organic Low Sodium Chicken Stock, from Cold Storage. This is the first time I'm using store-bought chicken stock, as I have been making my own all this while. It definitely saves a lot of time, as making chicken stock is actually time consuming besides using all the freezer storage space. And since chicken stock is not easily available in most supermarket, I bought 1 carton as soon as I've spotted it on the shelf, and looks like I'm going back for more on my next trip there, or depending on my mood with the next batch of homemade stock, whichever comes first! :)



This recipe uses Baby Spinach but I could not find any spinach, so I used my homegrown Malabar Spinach (chan choy) from my container garden. I picked the young tender leaves and they are great in the pasta! 
The young tender leaves can be used in salads as well, something that I would love to try!





A simple pasta dish that makes a lovely meal everyone enjoys. The only changes I did was to stir the cherry tomatoes and the chicken with the heat on instead of, with the heat off. Then I added in the Malabar Spinach, give it a quick stir and add in the pasta. Oops... I have forgotten about the Parmesan cheese! Did not use it at all, and even without it, this pasta dish is very tasty. And now I have a new recipe to use my Malabar Spinach from my container garden, and in other pasta dishes as well.


Chicken Florentine Pasta
(adapted from : The Pioneer Woman)
1 pound Penne
4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cups low-sodium broth, more if needed
1 bag baby spinach
2 cus grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
4 ounces, weight Parmesan Cheese, shaved with vegetable peeler

Cook pasta according to package directions in lightly salted water. Drain and set aside.
Cut chicken breasts into chunks and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Heat butter and olive oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add chicken chunks in a single layer and do not stir for a minute or two in order to allow the chicken to brown on the first side. Turn the chicken and brown on the other side. Cook until done, then remove chicken from the skillet.
Turn heat to medium. Add garlic and quickly stir to avoid burning. After about 30 seconds, pour in wine and broth, stirring to deglaze the pan. Allow the liquid to bubble up, then continue cooking until it's reduced by at least half (most of the surface of the liquid should be bubbling at this point).
Turn off the heat. Add spinach, tomatoes, chicken and cooked pasta to the skillet. Toss to combine ; the spinach will wilt as you toss everything. Add plenty of Parmesan shavings and toss to combine. Serve with extra Parmesan shavings.






I'm linking this to Cook Like A Star, featuring Ree Drummond as the star for this month, hosted by Zoe from Bake For Happy KidsBaby Sumo from Eat Your Heart Out and Mich from Piece of Cake.


19 comments:

  1. I'm early, so can I share some of your nutritious pasta? Looks tempting!

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  2. Very delicious and moreish! More spinach for me please.

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  3. Hi Joyce , this is delicious dish ,your family and guests will think you worked all day to make this beautiful and tasty dish , thanks for sharing :).

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  4. Hi Joyce, I also want to try all the pastas that Ree cooks but somehow didn't because I keep doing the same few which the family always can't get enough of it.

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  5. Look very appetising and I like the great colourful combo!

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  6. Hi Joyce,

    Your homegrown spinach is way way better than baby spinach... You must be feeling extra good eating these spinach in this yummy pasta. People like us can't grow this at home, will sadly have to rely on pesticide-loaded stuff - Yuck!

    Zoe

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  7. Joyce, your pasta looks like a balanced meal with the veg, meat and carbo. I like the look of it. I'm sure it tastes very yummy :) You really have green fingers growing those spinach. I can already imagine how your garden looks with all the beautiful plants growing so prettily.

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  8. Hi Joyce!

    It's been so long since I've made this dish. when I was a kid we often had it as a "special" meal:) I think it's wonderful that you could go out to your garden and use fresh spinach. I wouldn't apologize for that at all. I use to make it with wine sometimes but homemade chicken stock works just as well. I haven't been able to bring myself to buying it at the store yet although I hear Trader Joe's sells a good brand.

    I know I'm dating myself here but heck, there use to be a time you could buy chickens that were called "soup" chickens. They were THEE best for making chicken stock. Now it takes a bit more effort and lots more chicken pieces but...I would definitely require a quick grate of cheese on top though:) Oh my goodness now you have me craving Chicken Florentine Pasta!

    Thanks for sharing, Joyce...

    P.S. No pineapple yet:)

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  9. Your pasta makes me mouth watering and i love the idea to add in baby spinach!

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  10. Love this colorful & healthy pasta with your hoemgrown spinach even better . Yum-yum ;)

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  11. Wow fresh spinach from your garden! That is so lovely. This pasta dish looks healthy and nutritious.

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  12. i'm eating a bowl of boiled vege as i stare at your dish... i guess this is what they call 望梅止渴

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  13. Joyce, this was one of the pasta dishes I was eyeing! It is colorful and looks very tasty indeed.

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  14. First time I came across that species of spinach, looks like a healthy and tasty dish.

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  15. Ohhh ! I love this - I've just eaten dinner but I could eat this all over again!
    Mary x

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  16. Nice pasta Joyce...looks so refreshing and light...beautiful colors.
    Hope you are enjoying your week :D

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  17. Hi Joyce, Ree does have some good pasta recipes. Tried one last week too.

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