Creamy Tomato Penne
My Creamy Tomato Penne recipe is so easy and so delicious. It is the type of meal that comes together quickly and feeds the entire family. Penne pasta is served with a creamy tomato sauce along with diced tomatoes, tender diced chicken breast, mushrooms and spinach. It is a 30 minute recipe that I make again and again.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- 1 tablespoons Olive Oil
- ¼ cup chopped White Onion
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 ½ cups Sliced Mushrooms
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 14.5 oz can of Diced Tomatoes
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- 2 cups Farfalle
- 2 cups Baby Spinach
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan
- Optional: 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- Optional: ½ cup sliced Grape Tomatoes
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and let cook for 5-6 minutes. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
- Dice the chicken into small 1 inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet you used to cook the mushrooms. Heat over medium-high heat, and add the chicken. Cook for 2 minutes, until lightly browned, and then flip and let cook for another 2 minutes. Then add the diced tomatoes, (and grape tomatoes if adding them) and cream. Stir, reduce the heat to low, and let slowly simmer while the pasta is cooking.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Once the water has come to a boil, add the pasta. Cook for 7-8 minutes, until very al dente. You are going to finish cooking the pasta in the sauce so you want to undercook it. Then drain the pasta and set aside.
- Add the drained pasta to the sauce, along with the mushrooms and spinach (I tear the spinach up as I add it in). Let the pasta simmer in the sauce for 2 minutes over medium heat. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan.
Notes
One of the tricks to making this, is to undercook the pasta a bit. You want it extra al dente because you are going to let the pasta finish cooking right in the sauce. This makes the pasta extra flavorful and it helps to thicken the creamy tomato sauce. This recipe makes 4 servings, but you could double it to serve more people. Making a double batch of this recipe is easy, just use a dutch oven instead of a skillet, and cook the chicken in two batches
