Tuscan Chicken Cavatappi
From razorfamilyfarms 16 years ago
- 30 minutes to make
- Serves 46
Marinated and then grilled chicken breast set atop caramelized shallots, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, baby bella mushrooms, and fresh spinach tossed with cavatappi pasta in a rustic Marsala and mascarpone sauce
Ingredients
- * 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, each breast cut crosswise into 3 pieces shopping list
- * 1 cup balsamic vinaigrette shopping list
- * salt and freshly ground black pepper shopping list
- * 2 tablespoons olive oil shopping list
- * 5 tablespoons butter shopping list
- * 3/4 cup chopped onion or shallots shopping list
- * 1 pound baby bella mushrooms, sliced shopping list
- * A few cloves roasted garlic (to taste) shopping list
- * 2 Tablespoons minced garlic shopping list
- * 2 cups fresh spinach (washed and trimmed) shopping list
- * handful of sun dried tomatoes shopping list
- * 1 cup dry marsala wine shopping list
- * 1 cup mascarpone cheese or quark shopping list
- * 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard shopping list
- * 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves, plus whole sprigs, for garnish shopping list
- * 1 box of cavatappi, a.k.a. cellentani or double elbows shopping list
How to make it
- About a half an hour before you plan to start cooking, rinse the chicken and place in a Ziploc bag with the vinaigrette.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Gather about three heads of garlic to roast (use the leftover garlic as a spread for the bread you serve the pasta with).
- Slice off the top each head of garlic to expose some of the cloves inside. Place each head in some olive oil poured in a bowl and let them soak up some oil.
- Place the heads on a piece of foil. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap in the foil. Roast until cloves are lightly browned and tender, about 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Grill outside or heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cool slightly.
- Chop up that garlic and onion (I used shallots and some onion but you have a right to choose in this kitchen).
- While the chicken cools, melt butter to the same skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion and sun dried tomatoes, then saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic, then saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 12 minutes.
- Add the wine and simmer until it is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir in the mascarpone and mustard.
- Cut the chicken breasts crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the cavatappi and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally. Drain. Toss with sauce and add the fresh spinach leaves.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread and roasted garlic on the bread.
Garlic soaking up olive oil
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Garlic before roasting
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grilling chicken
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onions, shallots, garlic, sundried tomatoes
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baby bellas
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cavatappi before cooking
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The Rating
Reviewed by 7 people-
Fabulous recipe. Got my super high 5!
elgab89
in Toronto loved it
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5 for your pictures and 5 for the recipe! Good start,my friend.
mystic_river1
in Bradenton loved it
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Sounds really tasty.. I agree with JM, your photos are very nice. Makes one want to run home and start cooking....;-)~ Jim
jimrug1
in Peoria loved it
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