Pasta | The Humble Onion

Creamy Chicken, Corn, Tomato and Zucchini Pasta

August 16, 2022

This dinner has been on rotation ever since the corn, zucchini and tomatoes have been showing up at our local farm stand. It’s even better now that we have zucchini from the garden. I know lots of families are headed back to school all ready, and with high school sports starting already it is really back to a full schedule for our fam.

But this dinner is helping us hold on to the sweet days of summer.

This is such an easy dinner, and you can make it even faster & easier with a rotisserie chicken. The amazing flavor comes from cooking it in white wine, and using the easy & delicious secret ingredient – chive cream cheese.

I have made this dish plenty of times with just cream and it still turned out great, but when I was out of cream recently I used this instead and it was such a happy accident! It really brought this dish to the next level so I highly recommend. If you want to use regular cream cheese + fresh chives that works too.

After making this a bunch this summer, I also really like to cut the zucchini in bigger chunks so they don’t fall apart too easily. This is such a chunky pasta dish that will make you feel amazing. The fresh corn makes it so try to use it instead of frozen if you can.

You guys will love this dinner, and it is great for little fingers too since corn and tomatoes are usually a hit (they can pick around the zucchini if they have to). Hope you try it as much as you can before all these beautiful summer ingredients are just a thing to remember. Just make sure to break it out again next summer. 🙂

Happy Eating, xoxo Katie

Creamy Chicken, Corn, Tomato and Zucchini Pasta

Serves 4-6

1 lb. orecchiette or other small pasta shape (like penne)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 shallots, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb. chicken, cubed

4 small (or 3 large) ears of corn, kernels removed to equal about 2.5 cups

1 zucchini, chopped chunky (so they don’t fall apart)

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 cup white wine

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup chive whipped cream cheese (or more to taste)

Fresh basil or chives

Directions:

Boil pasta according to package directions.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pan. Sautee shallots with a pinch of salt for 3-5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken and if raw, cook for 5-6 minutes. (If using rotisserie you can skip to next step). Add corn, zucchini, tomatoes, salt and pepper and sautee for 5 more minutes. Add wine and let it reduce for 5 minutes. Then add chicken broth and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in cream cheese until melted.

Serve over pasta immediately, garnishing with basil or chives.

Sausage, Escarole and Tomato Pasta

February 23, 2022

Guys, this is one of the best dinners I have made in a long time. I am so happy to share it with you all!

The idea for this dinner began when I read Alexandra Cook’s post on how much she loves sautéed escarole as a winter side. She makes the point that by February, we have roasted so many veggies that cooked greens hit the spot and are so easy. When I grabbed a few heads of escarole at the store, I got to thinking. Wouldn’t they be delicious in soups or pastas? The answer is yes and yes.

I looked around at other recipes online, and one of them was very similar to a simple pasta dish our family loves making combining these ingredients.

We usually make ours with broccoli or spinach (fresh or frozen) and use any pasta shape. I merged ours with one I found on Epicurious. And the result was amazing. I give all the credit to that glorious trio of shallots, garlic and wine cooked together to give such a delicious base. And the pasta water helps create the most luxurious sauce. Trust me, you are going to want to try it. And then make it again because it is sooo yummy.

The acid from the wine, the slight bitterness from the escarole, the sweetness of the tomatoes and the heat from the sausage, the comforting pasta, all covered in the delicious sauce is so well balanced. And the crispy fried rosemary on top is genius. I can’t stop thinking about how many other dishes I can use it on.

Just all around something I would drive to a restaurant far away to order again and again.

This one will be on heavy rotation because it is so easy, and so satisfying. Hope you get to try it soon too!

Happy eating, xoxo Katie

Sausage, Escarole and Tomato Pasta

1 pound tubular pasta like paccheri or rigatoni

2 sprigs Rosemary

1/3 cup olive oil

20 oz. turkey sausage (or any kind you prefer)

2 shallots, finely diced (1/3 cup)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 cups cherry tomatoes

2 heads (about 8 cups) escarole, torn into pieces

1/2 cup parmesan plus more for serving

Directions:

Bring pot of salted water to boil for pasta. You will need some of the pasta water for the sauce so be sure to reserve.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium high heat. Fry rosemary, turning until crisp about 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towel to drain.

Add sausage to the same pot and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon or fork and stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through about 8 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a plate. While sausage cooks, start boiling pasta, setting timer for 3 minutes less than the packages cooking time.

Be sure there is still enough oil in pot, if not add more to equal about 1 T. Add shallots to pot and let cook for 2-3 minutes to soften, then add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and let cook for a minute before adding wine. Scrap up the bottom bits in the pan and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.

With a slotted spoon or spider, transfer pasta to pot with tomatoes, then add escarole and 1 cup pasta liquid. Cook, tossing until escarole is wilted, pasta is al dente and sauce is thickened, about 4 minutes. Add another 1/4 cup pasta cooking liquid then gradually add 1/2 cup cheese, tossing until melted into a glossy sauce. Thin with more pasta water if desired, season with pepper and more salt if needed (you probably won’t if your pasta water is salted.) Add sausage back into pasta and stir to combine.

Divide pasta in bowls, and crumble rosemary on top and sprinkle with more parmesean cheese.

One-Pot Chicken and Artichoke Cavatappi

January 26, 2022

What could be better on a cold winter night then lighting a fire, turning up the music and making a one-pot pasta dish?

I love artichokes, and will use any excuse to use them in a dish. I actually almost always have some open in my fridge to use in omelets, salads, sandwiches (they are so yummy on egg sandwiches with grainy mustard). I also have a family to feed where half of them want pasta at every meal, and the other half wants meat. Voila! Everyone is happy with this dish.

The first step is to brown the artichokes. This brings out there flavor and the cartelized color is so pretty.

Then you remove them from the pan (I doubled this recipe, so I used a heavy-bottomed pot for this recipe).

You add oil to the pan, season chicken with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and sauté onions, then add garlic and oregano. Then add tomatoes and broccoli and season with salt and pepper. Finally add lemon juice and chicken broth (which adds a lot of flavor but you could use water in a pinch) and the pasta, cover and let cook for 10 minutes. Then add the chicken back in and you’re done. If there is too much liquid you can cook it off, and if the pasta seems al dente you can add a little more broth and let it cook for a few minutes.

Serve with plenty of shaved parmesan cheese on top, and crusty bread. This is a great dish for a busy weeknight but it’s also nice enough for company. The leftovers keep very well and get better the next day. The lemon, garlic and oregano add lots of flavor. I also added red pepper flakes to mine. Crumbled feta or olives on top would also be delicious.

The best part is this dish is pretty healthy, especially if you use whole wheat pasta (which my kids cannot abide so I didn’t.)

Hope this dinner warms up your insides and is an easy meal to add to your dinner rotation! It is delicious and easy.

Happy Eating, xoxo Katie

One-Pot Chicken and Artichoke Cavatappi

Serves 4 (I doubled this recipe)

INGREDIENTS

Olive oil
15-ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1pound chicken tenders
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1-2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 small onion chopped, about 1 cup
2 tablespoons chopped garlic, about 5 cloves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, divided
3 ounces julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes
3 cups broccoli, fresh or frozen (you can use kale or spinach instead)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1/2 lemon, plus more to taste
2.5 cups chicken broth
8 ounces cavatappi, regular or whole wheat (you can use penne or other shape)
2 ounces shaved parmesan, (optional)

Directions:

Heat a large non-stick skillet with high sides (or a large pot if you are doubling the recipe) over medium heat.

Heat 1 T. olive oil. Working in two batches, add artichokes and char until dark golden—3 to 4 minutes. Remove to a plate.

Season chicken with 1 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder and salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

Heat another 1 T. olive oil in pan, add chicken and cook 5 minutes, turning half way through cooking. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Heat an additional 1 T. olive oil, then add onions, garlic, and 2 teaspoons oregano. Cook, stirring, until onions are softened and golden, 4 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and broccoli, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 2 1/4 cups of chicken broth. Stir in cavatappi, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces.

Remove cover, stir in chicken and artichokes. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 5 more minutes or until pasta is al dente and chicken is reheated. Remove cover and cook off any excess liquid if necessary. Serve topped with parmesan (if using), remaining oregano, and more salt and black pepper to taste.

Recipe adapted from Skinnytaste.com