With a delightfully creamy sauce made with a surprisingly small amount of cream, this fast, filling, and flavorful pasta recipe is the kind of recipe you'll want to make again and again.
Yield: 4 servings
Total Time: 30 minutesminutes
Ingredients
For Chicken:
1pound/ 453gchicken tenders, or chicken breasts cut into 1-inch strips
1teaspoongarlic powder
½teaspoonsmoked paprika
½teaspoonkosher salt
½teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
2tablespoonsolive oil
1tablespoonbutter
For Sauce:
8oz/ 227gfarfalle pasta
2tablespoonsbutter
1tablespoonolive oil
6 to 8large garlic cloves, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
½teaspoonred pepper flakes, more or less to taste
½teaspoongarlic powder
2tablespoonsall-purpose flour
¼cupwhite wine
1¼cups/ 300ggchicken broth
⅓cup/ 75gheavy cream
1teaspoonlemon juice, more or less to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2tablespoonschopped fresh parsley, for topping
parmesan cheese, for topping
Instructions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
Lay chicken tenders out on a plate and pat dry. In a small bowl, mix together garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Sprinkle half of spice mixture evenly over chicken tenders, flip and season with remaining half of spice mixture.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and butter; when butter is completely melted and sizzling, arrange chicken tenders in a single layer. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until bottom is nicely browned, then flip and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes or until cooked through (internal temperature in the thickest part of the largest tender should read 160 degrees F). If you are using chicken breast strips they'll likely be done a few minutes sooner. Transfer chicken to a clean plate, lightly cover to keep warm and set aside.
Add farfalle pasta to pot of boiling water and set the timer for about 1 minute less than the package instructs (the pasta will finish in the sauce). For example our pasta package specified 9 to 10 minutes, we cooked ours for 8, until it was just barely al dente.
Return the skillet in which you cooked the chicken to the stove (no need to clean it), over medium heat. Add butter and olive oil until melted, then add garlic, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add flour and stir until no dry bits of flour remain. Add white wine and whisk until mostly evaporated. Add chicken broth, a splash or two at a time, whisking constantly until smooth and all of the broth has been incorporated.
Continue to whisk sauce mixture over medium heat until it starts to bubble gently and thicken, about 5 to 8 minutes. Once it is noticeably thickened, whisk in cream. Add a splash of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste (if you used unsalted or low sodium chicken broth, you'll probably need 1/2 teaspoon of salt or more; if your broth was on the salty side already use less). Your pasta should be just about done at this point, if not, reduce the heat on the sauce to keep it warm until the pasta is just barely al dente.
Use a large slotted spoon or colander to drain pasta and dump it straight into the saucepan with the sauce. Gently fold to coat the pasta completely with sauce, and let it finish cooking for a minute or two until the sauce is nice and thick and coats the pasta completely.
Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Spoon pasta into serving bowls, top with chicken, chopped fresh parsley, and an ample amount of shaved parmesan cheese; serve immediately.