Chicken Mozzarella Pasta

Christina
Christina @cook_3000087
USA

This is a riff on a recipe from one of my Pioneer Woman cookbooks. We just basically took her recipe, made the sauce homemade and added some veggies. It was slightly time consuming and definitely dirtied up a good amount of dishes, but the pasta turned out so yummy that it will definitely be in our regular meal rotation. Recipe adapted from : The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Dinnertime.

Chicken Mozzarella Pasta

This is a riff on a recipe from one of my Pioneer Woman cookbooks. We just basically took her recipe, made the sauce homemade and added some veggies. It was slightly time consuming and definitely dirtied up a good amount of dishes, but the pasta turned out so yummy that it will definitely be in our regular meal rotation. Recipe adapted from : The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Dinnertime.

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Ingredients

6-8 servings
  1. Sauce:
  2. 1 tbsp.olive oil
  3. 1large zucchini, thinly sliced
  4. 1/2yellow onion, finely diced
  5. 3 clovesgarlic, minced
  6. 1 can (28 oz.)unsalted crushed tomatoes
  7. 1 tsp.each sugar, dried basil
  8. 1/2 tsp.each salt, pepper
  9. 1/4 tsp.dried oregano
  10. 2heaping cups chopped spinach
  11. Pasta:
  12. 2 tbsp.olive oil, divided
  13. 2boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
  14. 1 lb.Penne pasta
  15. 1/4 cupshaved parmesan cheese
  16. 8 oz.fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into bite sized cubes

Cooking Instructions

  1. 1

    Start by cooking the zucchini and getting the sauce ready. In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Cook the zucchini coins until they are just tender, then remove them to a plate and set them aside. If needed, add a bit more oil to the pot, then add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, until they have softened up. Stir in the garlic and cook another minute or so, until fragrant. Then pour in the crushed tomatoes and stir in the sugar and seasonings.

  2. 2

    Once the sauce begins to simmer, lower the heat and let it bubble gently. Heat a large pot of salted water over high heat. Once it boils, cook the penne pasta according to the package directions. Once the pasta is done, drain it, then return it to the pot and toss lightly with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle the shaved parmesan over the pasta and set it aside.

  3. 3

    While your waiting on the pasta water to come to a boil, start the chicken. In a large, deep skillet, heat the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil over med-high heat. Once it's hot, add the chicken to the skillet and season it with salt and pepper. Cook until it's all browned and completely cooked through. Then place your chicken over top of the pasta.

  4. 4

    Last, stir the spinach into the simmering sauce. Once it wilts down, stir the zucchini and mozzarella cheese cubes into it. Stir gently until the mozzarella begins to soften. Before it completely melts, remove the sauce from the heat and pour it over top of the chicken and pasta. Then serve.

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Christina
Christina @cook_3000087
on
USA
I love to bake and to try out new recipes! I'm always on the lookout for simple dinners for busy weeknights. A lot of the recipes I post on here are ones I've found on Pinterest or from different bloggers, and that I've tried and really enjoyed, but I always reference to where I got the recipe from in the recipe description and the pictures are my own. If there's no source listed, then it's a rare recipe that I came up with. I have two wonderful kids and I hope to pass on my love of cooking and baking to them.
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