Penne Pasta & Oven Roasted Chicken (By Florida Native)

This is my stab at Romano's Macaroni Grill's dish called "Penne with Oven Roasted Chicken". I think it is my favorite chicken and pasta dish, and I've tried alot of them and made up a few myself. I found a couple of recipes for this but could not get the exact ingredients so I improvised and this is what I ended up with. I added no salt as the chicken broth and cooking wine I used both had salt. I think it's pretty close, not exactly Romano's but still YUMMY! Specifics: I used Perdue's Perfect Portions Roasted Garlic with White Wine Boneless-Skinless Chicken Breasts, Gourmet Garden Basil Herb Blend (in the tube in the refrigerated produce section, I used 3 teaspoons), Holland House White Cooking Wine with Lemon Flavor, and Barilla Plus Penne Pasta.

• Ready In: 1 hr 5 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup sun-dried tomato packed in oil, drained and sliced
• 1  tablespoon  oil, reserved from sun-dried tomato
• 16 -20  asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed, diagonally sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 4 (4 ounce)  boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1⁄4 cup  coarsely chopped fresh basil, approximate
• 3  teaspoons  minced garlic or 2  large cloves, minced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1⁄2 cup chicken broth
• 1⁄2 cup dry white wine
• 1  tablespoon tomato paste
• 8  ounces  prepared penne pasta
• 1 -2  tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 4  ounces buffalo mozzarella, cut into quarters

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Place chicken in a baking pan and brush with olive oil. If not using pre-seasoned chicken, sprinkle with a little basil, garlic powder and parsley.
3. Bake chicken 30-40 minutes or until thoroughly cooked through.
4. Remove from oven, cool, and slice into bite-size chunks.
5. While baking chicken, cook penne pasta according to package directions, and pre-measure or chop other ingredients.
6. Once the chicken is chopped and the penne is prepared, you're ready to put it all together.
7. Add 1 tablespoon each of the reserved sun-dried tomato oil and the olive oil to a large skillet.
8. Over medium-high heat, stir-fry the asparagus for about 3 minutes.
9. Add the chopped chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, basil (1/4 cup if using fresh), oregano, chicken broth, wine and tomato paste.
10. Stir together well and bring to a boil.
11. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer about 5 minutes until the asparagus is crisp-tender.
12. Add prepared pasta and stir well to coat. Cook 1-2 minutes or until pasta is thoroughly heated.
13. Remove pan from heat.
14. Add the buffalo mozzarella chunks and toss mixture about 5 seconds.
15. Serve in individual pasta bowls with warm garlic bread.