Penne with chicken & peas in cream sauce

Last week, C & I were both outrageously stressed from work, and neither of us wanted to cook. Usually, that means its either a pasta night or a pizza night (we love the Italian ones from Trader Joe's), but we were both needing some protein, and all I really had in the fridge was some chicken (neither of which of us is a fan of, unless it's roasted chicken, and clearly, that wasn't happening).

After rooting around some more in the freezer, I found a bag of frozen baby peas, and I knew that somewhere, I'd had seen a recipe for chicken & peas with pasta, so I set about recreating it.

It turned out to be a really wonderful and incredibly easy dish to prepare, and will become a staple for these types of dinners.

Penne with Chicken & Peas

• 1/2 lb penne pasta, cooked to al dente
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 small shallot, or 1/2 a leek, very thinly sliced
• 1 whole chicken breast, cut into bite-size chunks
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 bag frozen peas, or an equal amount fresh peas

1. In a large saute pan over medium heat, cook the shallot or leek in the olive oil and half the butter until translucent and softened, but not browned, 2-3 minutes.
2. Liberally season the chicken with salt & pepper to taste, plus the paprika. Add to the pan, and brown the chicken well on all sides.
3. Push the chicken to the sides of your pan, and melt the additional butter in the center; add the flour and cook for a minute to get rid of the flour's raw taste.
4. Increase the heat to medium-high, slowly add the milk or cream, reincorporate the chicken, and bring to a slow boil then immediately reduce the heat to medium-low.
5. Allow the sauce to reduce by half (takes just a couple of minutes), then add the peas. Reseason with salt & pepper to taste.
6. As soon as the peas have thawed and are tender (maybe 5 minutes ), drain the pasta (reserving a tablespoon or two of cooking water) and add to saute pan. Toss to coat, adding a bit of milk or pasta water if the sauce is too thick to coat the pasta.

Serves 2-3.

Comments

[philip]

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