Chicken Pasta recipe of your dreams!
Recipe VIDEO above. The creamy chicken pasta recipe of your dreams! A creamy chicken Alfredo with sun dried tomato, spinach and bacon, you'll love how the shredded chicken acts like a mop for the luxurious Alfredo sauce!
Servings: 4
Calories: 887cal
Ingredients
- 300g / 10 oz fettuccine (Note 1)
- 30g (2 tbsp) butter , separated
- 2 chicken breasts , cut in half horizontally
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (sub more chicken broth)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock / broth , low sodium
- 1 1/4 cups thickened cream / heavy cream , or any full fat pourable cream (Note 2)
- 3/4 cup tightly packed (75g) parmesan , finely shredded(Note 3)
- 70g / 2.5oz baby spinach
- 100g / 3oz sun dried tomato strips (Note 4)
Serving:
- 120g / 4oz bacon , cooked and crumbled
- More parmesan , for serving
- Parsley , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water for time per packet minus 1 1/2 minutes. (While the pasta is cooking, start the sauce)
- Reserve water then drain - Just before draining, scoop out a mugful of pasta cooking water. Then drain pasta.
Chicken:
- Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.
- Cook - Melt half the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes on each side until deep golden.
- Shred - Remove chicken onto plate, rest for a few minutes then shred with 2 forks (do this while the sauce is simmering).
Alfredo Sauce:
- Reduce heat to medium high. In the same skillet, add remaining butter and garlic.
- Garlic and wine - Cook garlic for 30 seconds until golden, then add wine.
- Make creamy sauce - Simmer rapidly, stirring to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Once mostly evaporated, add chicken broth, cream, parmesan and sun dried tomato.
- Simmer on medium for 3 - 5 minutes, stirring leisurely, until it reduces and thickens. It will be thinner than you expect, don't worry, it thickens in the next step!
Essential Tossing:
- Add spinach, chicken and cooked pasta into the sauce.
- Toss for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes on the stove, until sauce thickens and coats the pasta strands instead of being pooled in the base of the pan (see VIDEO). If it gets too thick, add a slosh of the reserved pasta cooking water to loosen (the starch in the water helps make the sauce thicken and stay creamy).
- Serve immediately with parmesan, crumbled bacon and parsley (if desired).
Notes
1. Pasta - flat wide pastas are best for creamy sauces like this but any pasta will work just fine, short, long, normal or fancy. Use dried not fresh pasta.
2. Cream - recipe will work with light, but obviously lacks the same amount of richness! :) Toss pasta at end with splash of pasta cooking water - the extra starch in the water will help make the sauce thick like using full fat cream.
3. Parmesan - either finely grate your own, or buy the finely shredded parmesan at the shops (ie the short very thin strands) Do not use store bought sandy parmesan or shaved, they will not melt.
4. Sun Dried Tomato - I've discovered the low cal joys of oil free vac packed sun dried tomatoes which is what I use in this. They plump up nicely when simmered in sauce. The sun dried tomato in oil also works just as well.
5. Leftovers - keeps better than most creamy pastas I share because I use a bit more cream in this recipe than I usually do! Fridge for 3 days or so, then reheating the microwave. Add a tiny splash of water to loosen up the sauce if needed.
Nutrition
Calories: 887cal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 50g | Saturated Fat: 27g | Cholesterol: 259mg | Sodium: 961mg | Potassium: 1614mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 3360IU | Vitamin C: 16.7mg | Calcium: 351mg | Iron: 4.9mg