Chicken Penne and Peas with Spicy Creamy Tomato Sauce – flavorful and easy-to-make pasta dish. Chicken breast is cooked with basil and crushed red pepper in a spicy and creamy tomato Mozzarella sauce with pasta and peas.
Ingredients
Chicken breast:
- 1 pound chicken breast , skinless and boneless, halved horizontally
- salt
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Pasta:
- 10 oz penne pasta
Peas:
- 1 cup green peas frozen
Creamy tomato sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 15 oz tomato sauce (15 oz can – I used Hunt’s)
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
How to cook chicken breast:
- Cut chicken breast horizontally in half, to make it thinner. Season both chicken breast halves generously with salt and also with ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon dry basil – on both sides.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on high-medium heat in a large skillet. Add seasoned chicken breast halves and cook on one side for about 3-4 minutes on high-medium heat.
- Flip the chicken over to the other side and cook for another 3 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the heat, cover with the lid and let the chicken sit in the skillet off heat – it will continue cooking. After about 10-15 minutes, the chicken should be fully cooked and no longer pink in the center – remove the chicken from the skillet and slice into cubes. Set aside.
How to cook penne:
- Cook penne pasta in salted water according to package instructions.
- Add peas to pasta during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain and rinse with cold water.
How to make creamy sauce:
- To the same skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 6 cloves of minced garlic, and ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes – cook on medium heat for 1 minutes until garlic is fragrant.
- Add tomato sauce, ½ teaspoon dry basil, stir and bring to boil – immediately reduce to simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, covered.
- Add shredded mozzarella cheese to the sauce and stir to melt until cheese is completely melted and the sauce thickens – 30 seconds. With heat on simmer, add ½ cup heavy cream and stir to combine.
Assembling chicken penne pasta:
- Add cooked and rinsed penne pasta, peas, and cooked sliced chicken to the sauce. Mix to combine.
- If you cooked pasta in salted water, if you seasoned chicken generously with salt and used canned tomato sauce – there is really no need to add salt at this point as everything should be just perfect. Nevertheless, taste your final pasta and add salt if necessary.