Creamy Pasta With Rosemary Chicken

A delicious, creamy pasta dish that is simple to make despite the long directions. The base is thin pasta coated with a creamy garlic-butter sauce. Add to that tender chunks of chicken that have been marinated in olive oil and rosemary, then sautéed until golden. This recipe is the perfect size for 2, but can be easily multiplied to serve guests. If you multi-task well, this can be a 30 minute recipe (not including marination time) in which you begin sautéeing the chicken, then cook the sauce and boil the pasta all at the same time.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 45 mins
• Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Marinade

• 2  boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips
• 1  tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1⁄8 cup water
• 1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
•  salt and pepper

• Sauteeing

• 2⁄3 cup flour
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1  teaspoon black pepper
• 1  teaspoon  italian seasoning (I simply use oregano)
•  extra virgin olive oil

• Sauce

• 1  tablespoon butter
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  tablespoon garlic, minced (which is 2-3 cloves, depending on how much you like garlic)
• 2  tablespoons flour
• 1⁄3 cup  apple juice
• 3⁄4 cup half-and-half (or another cream, heavy or whipping is fine)
• 1⁄3 cup parmesan cheese, grated (or another sharp cheese like kasseri or an aged white cheddar)
• 1⁄3 cup tomatoes, diced (optional, we usually prefer the sauce without)
• 1  tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
•  salt
•  black pepper
•  garlic powder (optional)

• Pasta

• 1⁄3 lb pasta (long and thin, spaghetti, fetuccine, linguine etc)

Directions

1. CHICKEN:
2. Heat the rosemary in 1/8 cup water by microwave or stove to draw out the taste.
3. Mix rosemary with 1/4 cup olive oil, and add salt and pepper.
4. Marinate the chicken slices in this rosemary-olive oil mixture for at least 1 hour, up to 24 hours. Do not rinse or drain the marinade - it's not much liquid to begin with.
5. When you're ready to prepare the meal, begin heating 1/3 inch of olive oil in a large skillet or pot.
6. Meanwhile, combine the flour, salt, pepper, and italian seasoning, and mix this in with the marinated chicken so that the pieces become slightly coated with flour. They do not need to be dry or perfectly dredged.
7. When the oil is hot, add all of the chicken pieces. They do not need to be in a single layer.
8. Sauté them on high heat, stirring them once the bottom layer becomes golden. They will not become totally golden or browned, but each piece should have golden edges and be fully cooked.
9. SAUCE:
10. Heat 1 tbs. butter and 2 tbs. olive oil in a saucepan.
11. Sauté the minced garlic until golden, not browned.
12. Stir in the flour and mix well.
13. Add in the rest of the sauce ingredients (apple juice, cream, parmesan, tomatoes, parsley).
14. Let the sauce bubble and thicken for a short time, then turn down the heat.
15. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and garlic powder if desired.
16. If desired, you can thin and increase the sauce by adding in more cream.
17. PASTA: cook fully, according to package directions - as firm or soft as you like. Then drain the cooked pasta.
18. SERVING: when the chicken, sauce, and pasta are all cooked, mix the pasta with the sauce so that it's coated.
19. Stir in the chicken.
20. Serve with plain steamed broccoli and carrots, or any other vegetables you enjoy.