A Last Minute Favorite Dinner

Don’t let the “Florentine” fanciness scare you – this recipe is an easy meal that is tasty leftover as well. “Florentine” just means that spinach in an ingredient. All of the items in this recipe are things I usually have on hand, so this is a last minute favorite of mine. Also, you get your protein, veggie, and carb in one dish, which I love.

Chicken Florentine Pasta Recipe

Chicken Florentine Pasta   Save Print Ingredients

• 1 pound box penne pasta (or any other short, cut pasta)
• 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
• 5 cups spinach
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, cut in half (see my trick below)
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese, shaved, plus extra for topping once plated
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• ¾ cup dry white wine (try and stay away from Chardonnay)
• ¾ cup chicken broth
• Salt and pepper
• Crushed red pepper

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add in 1 tablespoon of salt and cook pasta.
2. Cut up your chicken into chunks, place onto a plate, and then season with salt and pepper.
3. In a large skillet over the highest heat setting, add in the butter, olive oil, and chicken. Spread the chicken out over the skillet so that every piece is being cooked. Salt any pieces that didn’t get seasoned. Leave for a minute or two, I disturbed so that the pieces brown. Then, stir around the chicken to cook the other sides, about 10 minutes. Once the chicken is browned and no longer pink in the middle, spoon the pieces onto a plate. You will want to keep the juices in the skillet, so don’t just dump the chicken out.
4. Turn the heat down to medium, add the garlic and stir quickly to avoid burning.
5. Slowly, pour in the wine and the chicken broth. Don’t want to use wine? Just double the broth amount.
6. Stir and scrape the bottom of the skillet. Let the liquid cook and bubble up for about 5 minutes. You want your liquid to reduce by half.
7. Turn off the heat; throw in the spinach, tomatoes, chicken and pasta. Begin to toss, combining all ingredients. Add in ½ cup parmesan and crushed red pepper to taste. Serve hot and top off with some extra parmesan.