Chef Tashas Chicken And Spinach Pasta Recipes

CHICKEN, SPINACH, AND CHEESE PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; add penne and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion in hot oil until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Mix penne pasta, onion, chicken, diced tomatoes, spinach, and cream cheese together in a baking dish until the cream cheese melts and coats everything. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the pasta mixture. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until heated through and beginning to brown along the edges, about 15 minutes more.

HERBY CHICKEN AND SPINACH BAKED PASTA WITH FRESH MOZZARELLA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Add both cans of the tomatoes and 1 cup of water. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat slightly, add the basil sprigs and simmer rapidly, uncovered, until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard basil sprigs and stir in the chopped basil and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook the fusilli in the salted boiling water until very al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain the pasta and transfer it to a large bowl.
• Add the tomato sauce, spinach, chicken, half of the mozzarella and half of the Parmesan to the bowl and stir well to combine. Transfer the pasta to a 3- to 4-quart baking dish and top with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, until browned, about 15 minutes. Let the pasta rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with more chopped basil if using.

CHEF TASHA'S CHICKEN AND SPINACH PASTA

Steps:

• Start water for the pasta. Make sure it has salt and oil. Whole wheat pasta tends to take a little more oil than other pasta. It also likes to stick, so take a fork to it the first 5 minutes or so to make sure you aren't having sticking issues. Cook it to "al dente" (just where it losses it's firmness). Do not overcook. When it is done, leave it in a colander until you need it again. Next, dice onions and mincing garlic. Throw that in a sauté pan with a tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and sauté over med heat until golden brown. While that is working, cut up your chicken. If you are trying to loose weight, use the breast meat and you can remove the skin. Of course, the skin gives a lot of flavor, so Chef Tasha Peters uses it. She also uses a little dark meat, cut into bite sized pieces. The rotisserie chicken, or Tyson strips are already cooked. Throw it in with the onions and garlic and heat it. But, if you choose to use raw chicken, turn the heat up because the chicken needs to cook all the way through. While the chicken is cooking, clean and pick through and wash the spinach. If you use baby spinach, the stems aren't as long and hard. But using a bag of regular spinach, pull the stem off where it meets the leaf. It is bitter tasting. Then chop the spinach up and add it to the chicken. Turn off the heat and blend the spinach with the chicken. Next, cut the grape tomatoes in half. Add the tomatoes and the capers. Next, in a big bowl mix the chicken with the pasta and add either the basil pesto or Parmesan sauce -- it's your choice. Toss and blend thoroughly, then serve.

CREAMY CHICKEN, MUSHROOM, AND SPINACH PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook bow-tie pasta at a boil, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to a serving bowl or a deep platter.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Season tenders with salt and pepper, place in the hot oil, and cook until lightly brown on one side, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side until light brown, an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.
• Add mushrooms and onion to the hot skillet and cook until onion is lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth and mustard, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes. Return chicken tenders to skillet and submerge them in the broth mixture. Cook until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove chicken and place on top of the cooked pasta.
• Continue to cook the sauce until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in cream. Add spinach stir until slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Pour sauce over chicken and pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley.