Chicken and Pasta with Artichokes and Sun Dried Tomatoes



I hope those of you who live in the Northeast are surviving the brutally cold weather we are having.  I am staying warm by spending time in my kitchen.  This is a recipe that I have been meaning to post for a while, but didn't have measurements for, so I made this the other night and measured everything.

There used to be an Italian restaurant here in town called Johnny Carinno's.  I believe it may have been a chain.  They were an Olive Garden type of restaurant, but with a less extensive menu.  Sadly, they closed, but this is a dish I often ordered when I went there.  I liked it so much that I decided to try to make it on my own.  After a few attempts, I think I came fairly close to their recipe and have been making this for several years.

Except for the accompanying pasta, this dish is all made in one large skillet.  It's fairly quick and easy, and very tasty. I find if I do all the chopping before I begin, the process goes more smoothly. One of those choppers like the one Pampered Chef sells is very helpful.  I don't usually take out my food processor for chopping unless I have a really large quantity to chop.  I usually chop everything and have it ready on a separate cutting board, then I can add each ingredient as it's needed, rather than stopping mid recipe to chop something. The whole chopping process, takes me about ten minutes.  Including prep and cooking time, this recipe should take about 40 minutes to prepare.

You may think there are some unusual ingredients in this dish.  I have talked to you before about having a well stocked pantry.  These ingredients are all things I use often and always have on hand, but you may need to make a trip to the store for some of these.  Capers, which are the unopened flower buds of the Capparis shrub, come in a small jar and are usually found where the olives and pickles are in your grocery store. It's a fairly small jar, but you only need two tablespoons.  They come packed in a briny liquid, and if you don't drain this off, they will keep for months in the refrigerator. You can certainly omit the capers, but I find that their briny, pungent taste is a nice surprise when you bite into them.

 The next unusual item is sun dried tomatoes. They are usually found in the produce section.  You can buy them dry in a package or in a jar packed in oil.  I use the ones packed in oil.  If you buy the dried ones, you must first soak them in oil to reconstitute them, and this takes a bit of time. As with the capers, if you don't drain off the oil, they will keep indefinitely in your refrigerator.  I use them in salads, add them to fresh pasta sauces, homemade bread and all kinds of other dishes.  They have a strong flavor and add to any dish you put them in. The easiest way to chop them up is to stack several on top of each other, cut them into thin strips lengthwise and then chop across the strips.

  This dish also calls for artichoke hearts.  I always have a few cans on hand.  Use the ones packed in water rather than marinated in oil.  You purchase them whole, halved or quartered.  Any kind is fine as long as they are packed in water.  You will be using the liquid as well as the artichokes, so don't dump it down the sink when you drain them. These are also great in a salad as a nice addition to regular greens.

Shallots are found in the produce section near the onions and garlic.  The skin looks like a yellow onion, but when you cut them up they look more line a red onion. They are kind of like a cross between garlic and onion.  If you don't have shallots, or don't wish to purchase them, you can certainly substitute a medium onion.

 Pitted black olives are a fairly common staple to have on hand.  I buy them whole and slice or chop them them up, but they sell cans of black olives already chopped, and these are certainly a timesaver.  Now that you have all that information, we are ready to begin.

Chicken and Pasta with Artichokes and Sun Dried Tomatoes

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 shallots finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped or run through a garlic press
1 can artichoke hearts packed in water drain, but reserve the liquid
5 sun dried tomatoes chopped
1 small can chopped black olives
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white wine (optional, you can just increase the amount of chicken stock by 1/2 cup)
About 1 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons flat leaf Italian parsley finely chopped
about 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese for serving
1 lb long thin pasta like linguini, angel hair or spaghetti.  If you have a small family, you can use less pasta

Place a large pot of water on high heat for the pasta.  Pat the chicken breasts dry and season with the salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat.  When the oil is shimmering, reduce the heat to medium high and add the chicken breasts.  This next step is VERY important. DO NOT touch the chicken once you have put it in the pan.  Cook it for about 2 - 3 minutes.  When it is ready to turn, it will move easily.  If you fuss with it, or try to turn it too soon, it will stick to the pan and you will end up ripping it apart. You are trying to get a nice brown sear on the chicken.  Usually, if you give the pan a shake, you will see the chicken move freely, and know it is ready to turn.  Cook on the other side for another 2 -3 minutes.  Turn the chicken again, lower the heat to medium, cover and cook for another five minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set on a cutting board. The chicken will not be fully cooked at this point. 

Now add shallots, garlic and sun dried tomatoes, and capers to the pan, turn the heat to medium high and cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. When the water boils, add a few tablespoons of salt (One of my favorite chefs, Mario Batali, says pasta water should be as salty as sea water.) and add the pasta. Cook according to package directions.  When the pasta is finished, reserve about one cup of the pasta liquid, before you drain the pasta.

While the pasta and shallots are cooking, slice the chicken across the grain into one inch pieces.  If these seem to large, cut them in half, so you have chunks that are about one inch. When the shallots and garlic are soft and translucent, add the flour, stir well and cook about two minutes until all the flour is incorporated.

 Now add the wine and scrape up any bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Next, add the reserved liquid from the artichokes and about one cup of the stock.  Sauce should begin to thicken.  Return the chicken to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes longer, or until the chicken is no longer pink.  If sauce becomes too thick, and the remaining stock.  Finally, add the olives and artichokes to the pan.  Heat through.

 If your pan is large enough, add the pasta to the pan along with 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Stir through. The starchy pasta water, helps the sauce adhere to the pasta. If your pan isn't big enough, add the pasta water to the sauce and stir well.  Transfer everything to a big serving bowl and top with the parsley.  You can add the cheese here, or each person can add their own cheese. 

You can serve this with broccoli florets as a side dish, or add the cooked broccoli right to the dish as you serve it and mix it all together.  This is a healthy and delicious meal that I'm sure you will enjoy.

Of course, I welcome questions and comments.  Just leave them in the comments section below this post.  As always, feel free to share with your friends!  Enjoy!

 

 



Happy Cooking,

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

A Hearty Meal for a Blustery Night--with make ahead possibilities

As I write this the wind is howling.  We had a rain storm this morning, a snow squall this afternoon and a sudden drop in temperature.  I learned a new meteorological term today--flash freeze.  I thought that was something they did to food, but now I  know, it happens to our streets and roads. Not a nice evening.  Glad I am home safe and sound with a cozy fire in the fireplace.  I decided I needed something hearty for dinner and something that allowed me to turn the oven on.  This is a meal I have experimented with for a while, and I think I have finally gotten it the way I want it. 

One of the things I am learning about cooking and meal planning is that you don't always have to make a whole meal ahead of time.  Sometimes you can prep just part of it, and finish it off when you get home from work.  This is a perfect example of that kind of meal. I'm going to take you through the steps and tell you at what point you can stop and refrigerate or freeze to finish up another night.  It begins with leftover cooked chicken.  When I make chicken soup, I put some of the chicken into the soup, but the rest I freeze for a meal like this.  If you don't have left over chicken, you can buy one of those rotisserie chickens and pick the meat off the bone. 

This is basically a kind of chicken pot pie, but with biscuits instead of a crust.  You can add any vegetables you have on hand. Mine started out looking like this.

 

 

I must tell you that I love to chop.  I would have been a great sous chef, because I love all the prep work that goes along with cooking.  What you see here is one medium onion, one medium potato, three ribs of celery, and three carrots.  Here is the recipe.

 

Chicken Pot Pie With Biscuit Topping

 

2-3 cups of cooked chicken, diced

1 medium onion finely chopped

one potato diced into half inch pieces

3 ribs of celery, finely chopped

3 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise and chopped

three cloves garlic minced

1/3 cup flour

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1/2 cup white wine

2 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Bisquick or canned refrigerated biscuits

 

Heat oil over medium high heat in a large skillet.  Add potatoes, onion, celery, carrots and garlic, salt, and pepper Lower heat to medium and cook for eight minutes.  Add flour and cook another three to five minutes.  Add wine and one cup of chicken broth.  Raise heat to medium high until mixture begins to thicken.  Add thyme, rosemary, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and chicken.  Lower heat to medium.  Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time.  Mixture should be like a thick gravy. 

 

At this point, you can stop cooking, cool and refrigerate or freeze.  I actually made this earlier in the morning and set it in the fridge until dinner.

 

About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, preheat oven to 425 degrees and prepare a baking pan with non stick spray. Reheat chicken vegetable mixture.  If it becomes too thick add more chicken broth 1/2 cup at a time.  Add chopped parsley, remove from heat and add parmesan.  Pour mixture into baking pan and top with biscuits.  I used Bisquick to make biscuits, but the refrigerated ones will work just as well. Place the biscuits so they are almost touching.  You can sprinkle with a little more parmesan cheese if you like.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until biscuits are done.  If you are using refrigerated biscuits, follow the package directions for time and temperature.  I made mine in individual casseroles, and you can certainly do that, but I am assuming most of you don't have a set of individual casseroles.  Mine are the ones I use for onion soup and are kind of fun to use. 

 

 

 

This is a recipe you can make your own changes to.  You can add frozen peas, green beans or corn.  You can also add chopped peppers to the mixture you sauté at the start.  You can leave out the potatoes, but I find they help as a thickener. 

 

Give this a try and let me know how it turns out!  Remember the plan ahead part!  If you do, and use refrigerated biscuits, this meal will take less than 30 minutes to prepare!  Perfect for a weeknight meal.  Don't forget, if you are chopping vegetables for a recipe, chop extra and store in the fridge.  That will make prep even easier.  Have fun and enjoy!

 

Happy Cooking!

 

Carol

a.k.a. Nonnie