Chicken with Sun Dried Tomato-Basil Sauce

I figured I would get chicken night over with early this week and since my best friend since 7th grade is coming for a visit tomorrow, I won't have to eat any more chicken until next week!! This one wasn't half bad. I decided to bread the chicken with panko bread crumbs to give it a nice crunchy texture and I always use the thin breast strips. Technically, you should put your chicken into a ziplock bag and pound it out to flatten it so that it cooks evenly, but I was lazy and didn't do it. 

The ingredients waiting to magically turn into dinner.

I put some EVOO in my skillet and set the heat to 8. I put an egg and a dash of milk (you can also use water) in a bowl and whisked them together to combine, then let the chicken sit together with the egg/milk mixture until my oil was hot. When the oil was ready, I made sure the chicken was covered with the egg/milk mixture and then dredged them into the panko bread crumbs, then set them into the skillet. You could also use plain bread crumbs or Italian bread crumbs. I just like the crunchiness of the panko. You could also make your own bread crumbs if you have bread in the house that's about to go bad by cutting or tearing it into crouton size pieces, brush melted butter on the top of them if you like (you could also add dried basil or oregano to this or any other spice you like) and bake them at 350 in the oven until crusty (about 10-15 minutes). Then pop them over into the food processor to process them into little bread crumb bits. They will keep in the freezer for several months. 

Chicken dipped in egg/milk wash and dredged in panko cooking on hi heat in EVOO

For the sauce, I used the same skillet that my chicken cooked in but turned down the heat to 4. No sense in dirtying up another pan, but if you like washing dishes, you can also make this in a saucepan. While the chicken is cooking, cut up half of an onion, a shallot, and mince your 2 cloves of garlic with a micro-plane grater. *The next time I make this, I will leave out the onion. I like a little bit of shallot in my sauce, but just not real crazy about the onion flavor or texture.* Add the 1 1/2 tbsp butter (I made it an even 2) and let it melt, then add the onion (if you are using it), the shallot, and the garlic. Let them cook about 2 minutes then throw in the sun dried tomatoes. I already had a can of sun dried tomatoes in oil so I drained them and ran a little water over them so they didn't make the sauce greasy. Let that cook for about a minute then grab a whisk and add in the flour. I didn't measure this out, but used two heaping spoonfuls. Whisk this around a minute.

The onion, garlic, shallot, and sun dried tomatoes cooking

Whisk in the heavy cream and chicken broth. I added these in together because I mixed up my Better than Boulon chicken broth with my cream in the same measuring glass. Can you tell I am not a fan of washing dishes? Keep whisking this together for about three minutes. The sauce will start to thicken up courtesy of the flour. My sauce got a little too thick so I added about 1/2 cup (a little at a time) of the starchy pasta water to loosen it up a bit.

Add fresh basil once the sauce is at your desired thickness. Fresh herbs should be added at the end of the cooking process and dried herbs should be added at the beginning. I have a basil plant and recommend you get one too if you use basil even at least once a week. They are low maintenance. Mine likes about 4-5 hours of direct sunlight and about two cups of water a day. For me, the one time cost of $3 to buy the plant beats the weekly $1.50 in the grocery store.

I served my chicken and sauce over penne pasta. I think a squirt of fresh lemon juice or even a little lemon zest added to the sauce would give it a nice refreshing flavor and compliment the basil nicely. 

This meal took about 30-40 minutes to prepare. It was filling, but if you would like a little more food, a side salad would be nice or some warm bread. It was quite good and I will certainly be making it again. It would also be a good meatless dish. The sun dried tomatoes give it a hearty feel. Bon appetit! 

This original recipe was found on http://www.gabbiskitchen.com/chicken-with-sun-dried-tomato-basil-sauce.html

Serves: 2-3
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: Chicken: 10 minutes
Cook time: Sauce: 10 minutes
Cook time: Spaghetti: 10 minutes

6 boneless, skinless chicken tenders, thawed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup onions, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 shallot, minced
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped (in package, NOT oil packed)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup regular cream
1/4 16 ounce package whole wheat spaghetti, uncooked

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.  Add chicken & grind fresh pepper on each side. Cover & cook until done, about 5 minutes on each side. (When done, chicken will have NO pink on the inside.)  Remove from heat and set aside, keeping covered.
In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, & shallots, cooking 1-2 minutes, just until soft.  Add sun dried tomatoes; stir. With a whisk in hand,  add flour & stir.  Slowly pour in chicken broth, whisking constantly to remove any lumps.  Add cream, still whisking.  Whisk that sucker to death! (just kidding).  Continue whisking for 3-4 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken.  Take off heat and let sit; it will continue to thicken, feel free to stir every so often as you cook the spaghetti:
Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  It is done when it is soft, but still has a bite; al dente please.

Add fresh basil to sun dried tomato sauce and give it a good stir.

Place spaghetti noodles on serving plates, placing chicken directly on top of noodles.  Spoon as much sauce as you would like over chicken & noodles; enjoy!  

Tips: 
*You could also grill the chicken; that would be super yummy in this dish.  Make slight changes and brush the olive oil over each chicken tender before grilling on foil.  Grill on medium-low heat until done.
*Goes great with cooked asparagus & crusty bread.

Pin It