Penne in Tomato Cream Sauce with Pan-Seared Chicken

Ever made a homemade pasta sauce? I hadn't, until I tried this one. It was so much easier than I thought it would be! And the first time I made this dish, the Husband, who is not a very verbally expressive person, stared at me and said, "This is good. Like, restaurant-quality-good."

That's what I call a win.

Ready to impress someone? Whip up this sauce in about 20 minutes with pantry staples.

Penne in Tomato Cream Sauce with Pan-Seared Chicken

Adapted from: This blog

Serves: 5-6

You'll need: 

boneless skinless chicken breast (about one fillet per person)

Montreal steak seasoning

12 oz penne pasta

2 T plus 2 t butter, divided

2 T plus 2 t olive oil, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c chicken broth

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce (1 c)

1 c heavy cream

1/2-1 t EACH salt and pepper

1 T fresh chopped parsley OR 1 t dried parsley

6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped OR 1 t dried basil

First, put a huge pot of water on to boil. Next, put the 2 tablespoons each of oil and butter into a wide saucepan and heat on medium.

Add the garlic and sauté for about a minute, stirring often. Be careful not to overheat your oil and burn your garlic! The garlic should be soft and translucent and fragrant, not brown.

Once the garlic is softened, stir in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Allow to reduce by half, stirring occasionally.

While that's reducing, put your chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap and use the smooth side of a meat mallet to pound them to even thickness. Even thickness = even cooking. Plus, beating it with a mallet makes it nice and tender. Season both sides generously with the Montreal steak seasoning. (That stuff is AWESOME.)

Now. A word about cooking pasta. That large pot of water should be boiling by now. Before you dump in the pasta, add a GENEROUS amount of salt - at least a tablespoon or two. That salt does not make your pasta taste like salt; it makes is taste more like pasta. Next, dump in the pasta and and take note of the box instructions - and then cook it LESS than the box says by a minute or two. For instance, this box of penne said to cook for 11-12 minutes, so I cooked it for only 10. We want the pasta to be al dente - not quite finished - for a reason. And be sure to stir it once in a while!

While the pasta boils, it's time to cook the chicken. Melt the 2 teaspoons each of oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and sear for about 5 minutes on each side until it's golden brown and cooked through.

Remove to a cutting board, cover with a pan lid or foil, and let it rest about 5 minutes before slicing.

Let's check on the sauce. It should be reduced down to about 1/4 cup by now. Stir in that tomato sauce...

... and then the cream.

Add the salt and pepper (I'd start at about 1/2 teaspoon each) and the herbs. Give it a taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

The pasta should be done by now. And by "done" I mean al dente, of course. Drain it very briefly...

... then add it right to the sauce.

Stir it around so the sauce coats the pasta and then - this is the crucial part - simmer the pasta in the sauce for another minute or two until it's fully cooked.

This is how you achieve pasta that soaks up and is completely coated by the sauce, rather than the sauce just sliding off the pasta.

While it's simmering, go ahead and slice up your chicken.

When the pasta is ready, you can stir in the chicken, or, for a fancier presentation, put the pasta on the plate first and lay the sliced chicken over the top.

Simple, right? And less than 30 minutes, start to finish, at least once you've done it a couple times. Prepare yourself for the compliments to roll in.