A lazy Sunday lunch or a late dinner after a long day at work, pasta is one food that you can’t be grateful enough to the Italians for! Pasta is versatile, satisfying, easy to work with and can also be healthy. It makes an essential base ingredient for a variety of recipes, whether coated in a sauce or tossed in a salad, there’s no limit to what you could cook. Every mouthful of this pasta recipe leaves you wanting more; whole wheat spaghetti served with tender chicken, sweet sun-dried tomatoes and even some healthy spinach tossed in a creamy white sauce. A simple comfort food you’ll be sure to fall in love with!
PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS (serves 2)
- 150 g whole wheat spaghetti
- 200 g chicken breasts
- 15 g butter
- 2 garlic cloves
- 25 g sun-dried tomatoes (Note: You could also substitute with slow-roasted fresh tomatoes, they taste just as good)
- 75 g baby spinach leaves
- 125 ml single cream
- Olive oil
- Sea salt and pepper
METHOD
Cook the whole wheat spaghetti in a pot of generously salted boiling water according to the instructions on the packet. That should roughly take between 8-12 minutes, depending on the kind of pasta you use.
Slice the chicken breasts into thick strips. In a large pan, melt the butter with a splash of olive oil to keep it from burning. Add the chicken to the pan, season with salt and pepper and fry for about 4-6 minutes, until it starts to turn lightly golden or until cooked through.
Next, add in some finely chopped garlic and baby spinach. Stir gently until all the spinach has wilted. Add in the sun-dried tomatoes while the spinach is almost done.
Note: If you don’t have any sun-dried tomatoes at hand, you could use oven roasted tomatoes. Slice the fresh cherry tomatoes in half, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and whack them in the oven until they’ve gone soft and wrinkly in texture.
Next, pour in the cream and let it simmer for about 4-5 minutes.
Drain your spaghetti and combine with the creamy sauce. Toss well and serve!
If you give this recipe a go, I’d love to see how it turned out. Leave a comment below and share your pictures on Instagram using the tag #thecookbooklife!
Buon appetitto!
Nikita xx
The Cookbook Life 