Chicken Piccata with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes & Angel Hair

Chicken Piccata with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes & Angel Hair

We have this for dinner probably about once a week - one of everyone's favorites.  It is one of my very favorites because it takes 20 minutes to make (seriously - I timed myself!) and everyone in our family loves it.  It is fairly healthy with lots of spinach, chicken and tomatoes and not too much pasta.  It also feels light, but still filling and very flavorful.  I love that I can stop by the store and have this on the table so quickly and everyone is excited about dinner.

I haven't done a new dinner recipe in a while - a really long time.  I think I've fallen into the same trap of most moms... feeding people every single day.  Emma's tastes are simpler than ours, and though she is a fairly good eater, she doesn't want to try something new every night and, frankly, neither do I.  We take comfort in our favorites - pasta, tacos, burgers, roasted chicken, soup, etc.  So, when I realized this "favorite" of ours wasn't on the blog, I thought it was a good one to add.

I've resolved not to cook quite as much this year - ha!  We eat at home probably 5-6 night a week, which is a lot.  And while I still love cooking, I find myself a burnt out when I have extra time to make something fun, because I've spent the entire week making basic simple kid-friendly dinners.  My goal is to do more like 4 nights a week at home, 1 night easy takeout (pizza, sushi...) and two nights out.  

I would say I'm also going to "resolve" to do more recipe posts, but no promises ; )   It is always my intention, but creating new products for the store has become my new job (instead of writing blog posts), and after working all day, I don't always want to share what we have for dinner.  Like you, I want to turn off "work" and just enjoy family time.  I do miss writing and sharing our days here.  I found it therapeutic, almost, to create this little utopia of living well.  Emma has become very interested in baking lately and has really started to experiment in the kitchen.  I'm not talking cake mixes and decorating cupcakes, but things like pate a choux and sponge cakes thanks to our new favorite show, The British Baking Show.  So, you can look forward to new inspiration from that : )

With all of that said, the store and the School House has become so much more streamlined than it has been in the past.  My helpers are so good at taking responsibility off of my shoulders that I'm finding myself with more free time, so I do hope to be here more often to share.     I also have big garden plans I'm already working on for this spring.  The best part of being a gardener is dreaming and planning in the winter!

Chicken Piccata with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes & Angel Hair

4 chicken breasts (about 1 medium per person)
Garlic Salt
2/3 pounds of angel hair pasta
Sea Salt
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup of capers
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
5 oz box of baby spinach
6 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of cream



Start a pot of salted water to boil.  When water boils, add pasta and cook for 2-3 minutes, then strain and give a quick rinse with cold water.*

*We've all been taught to not rinse pasta lately and to put it directly into the sauce, so it can absorb the sauce and flavor.   However, I've learned that with this super light sauce, it seems to all disappear into the pasta and then there is nothing to enjoy with the chicken.  So, when I started rinsing with cold water, this recipe became so much better, but do what you want : )



Butterfly the chicken breasts by slicing them down the side, leaving the center intact.  Our grocery store does this for me.

Generously sprinkle garlic salt on one both sides of the chicken breasts.  In a saute pan, heat the olive oil.  After about 1 minute, add the chicken.  Cook on medium for about 6-8 minutes on each side, or until they are cooked all the way through.





Add the butter, cream and lemon juice the the saute pan.  Add the spinach, tomatoes and capers.



Toss everything together until the spinach cooks and wilts down - it can be easier to take the chicken out during this part if your pan is too full.  



Add the pasta and toss it all together, making sure the pasta gets reheated from the sauce.  Taste for seasoning - add more butter or lemon, if needed.

Spring Bucatini Pasta | Asparagus, Spinach, Mushrooms & Chicken in a Lemon Cream

You all know that I love pasta so much.  I try to limit ourselves to just a couple of a pasta dinners per week.  One is usually a red sauce - spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parm, ragu or bolognese - and one is usually a buttery lemon sauce with chicken or shrimp.  I'm the only one in our family that goes crazy for shrimp, so usually it is chicken.  Emma absolutely loves anything with lemon and chicken, so this dinner was a big hit.  We'll do variations on this all year long, but this one felt particularly springy.  

I always try to add some green veggies for dinner and being seasonal is even better.  The asparagus, mushrooms and spinach help stretch the pasta and give this so much more nutritional heft and flavor and make this feel like spring.  I used bucatini, which is a spaghetti shape but that has a hole down the center, like a tube.  It makes it sort of extra chewy and thick.  You could use any shape - bowtie, penne, angel hair or linguine.  

Lemon Cream sauce may seem complex, but it is just butter, lemon juice and cream.  The prep for the chicken is very simple - just olive oil and garlic salt then grilled or roasted in the oven.   Could not be easier.   I top the entire thing with thick slices of burrata cheese to really put it over the top.  You can stir the cold burrata into the warm lemon-y cream if you want, but I sort of like to savor it little by little with each bite.

Did you notice the new blue check and the green block print linens?  The new collection (Summer Garden) will launch on Thursday morning.

Spring Bucatini Pasta
Asparagus, Spinach, Mushrooms & Chicken in a Lemon Cream

4 small chicken breasts
olive oil
garlic salt
....
1 pound of pasta (bucatini)
....
4 tablespoons of butter
1 pound of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
1 clove of garlic thinly sliced
2 big handfuls of spinach
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup of cream
sea salt
....
burrata cheese (or fresh mozzarella or parmesan)

Chicken :
Preheat the grill or oven.  Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil, then sprinkle with garlic salt.  Grill for 5 minutes on each side or roast for 18-20 minutes until meat thermometer reads 140 degrees.  Let rest covered, then slice just before serving.

Cook Pasta* :
Cook pasta in salted boiling water for less than two minutes than directed on the package.  You want it to be slightly chewy.  ***Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water to use in the sauce.

  Veggies & Sauce : 

Melt the butter on low in a large sauce or saute pan (it should be large enough to hold all of the pasta, too).  Cook asparagus on medium for about 5 minutes until tender.  Add mushrooms and continue cooking until cooked through.  Add sliced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Reduce heat to low, then squeeze in lemon juice and stir in cream.  Add sea salt to taste.  Add a little bit of the reserved pasta water, then let simmer until bubbling lightly.  Add spinach and toss it with sauce.

When the pasta is ready add it directly from the boiling water to the sauce with tongs.  Toss with the sauce and let it simmer on low for a minute or two.  Add more pasta water if the sauce seems to thick.  Remove from the heat and add sliced chicken and thick slices of burrata.  Top with parmesan if you'd like.

This is how the sauce looks before the spinach.

You can add lots and lots of spinach - it cooks down to nothing!

Allowing the pasta to cook in the sauce a little helps it to absorb the flavors.

yum!!  this was so, so good.

Oh, that burrata.

This is what dinner typically looks like for us - sort of one pot, but not really.  I always love to hear what you're making for dinner, too... gives me new ideas from the typical spaghetti, tacos, burgers, pizza rotation : )

Summer Pasta | Creamy Pesto & Rigatoni with Tomatoes, Grilled Chicken & Fresh Mozzarella

I love a good summertime pasta.  Or really, anytime pasta.  This recipe uses pesto in two ways - first, as a marinade for the chicken (which is great even without the pasta - so make an extra batch of the chicken, or make this pasta from leftover grilled pesto chicken) and second as the pasta sauce, paired with some cream to make a creamy pesto.  

This pasta comes together in 20 minutes (+ pesto making time, 5-10 min) making it a great quick summer dinner.  

The key to this pasta is adding plenty of pasta water from cooking the pasta to the creamy pesto sauce, and cooking the rigatoni in the sauce for a couple of minutes.  This method makes the pasta and the sauce become one - and so delicious.  

We made a big batch of Herb Garden Pesto last week.  Our herbs in the garden were going a little crazy, so we picked as much as we could and put it all into a yummy pesto.  Instead of just basil, we also used Italian parsley and chives, hence the name Herb Garden Pesto.  It was so delicious.  

Chives Hair

Herb Garden Pesto

4 cups of fresh basil
2 cups of fresh Italian parsley
2 cups of fresh chives
6 cloves of garlic
1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

In a large food processor, start by chopping 6 cloves of garlic.  Add fresh herbs and whirl until finely chopped.  Add olive oil and blend.  Add parmesan, salt and red pepper.

Store in the refrigerator or freezer in Kitchen Containers.

Creamy Pesto & Rigatoni with Tomatoes Grilled Chicken & Fresh Mozzarella

1 box of rigatoni pasta
1 tablespoon of sea salt
.....
2 chicken breasts
1/4 cup of pesto (for marinate)
....
3/4 cup of pesto (for sauce)
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup of cream
1/2 cup - 1 cup of pasta cooking water*
1 teaspoon of sea salt
4 ounces of fresh mozzarella

Here is a timeline instruction list to help with the timing.  I know it can be a tricky thing to time everything perfectly, so you can see exactly how this dinner takes about 20 minutes to make if the pesto is made ahead of time.  If not, allow about 5-10 minutes to make the pesto.

0 : Turn on the grill.

1 : Start pot of water for pasta.

3 : Brush chicken with pesto.

4-5 : Cut cherry tomatoes in half.

  6 : Put chicken on the grill.  (set timer for 5 minutes)

7: Add pasta to boiling water.

8-10 : Put pesto in the saute pan, add cherry tomatoes.  Cook for just a couple of minutes on medium.  Add cream and let simmer on medium.

11 : Flip chicken breasts.  (set timer for 5 minutes, again)

13-15 : When the pasta is ready, transfer it directly from the water to the sauce by using a Spider Skimmer   You can also dump it into a colander, but *be sure to reserve some of the pasta cooking water to add to the sauce.  Toss the pasta with the sauce.  Add about 1/2 cup of pasta water to the sauce and pasta.  Cook on medium/low heat for a couple of minutes.

16: Check chicken on the grill with meat thermometer.  Should read 145-150 degrees.

17-18 : Chop fresh mozzarella into cubes.  Slice chicken into thin strips.

19-20 : Add last bit of fresh pesto into the pasta and toss.  Spoon pasta into shallow bowls, top with slices of chicken and mozzarella.

Brush on chicken breasts as a marinade before grilling.

Start with a big dollop of pesto in a saute pan (reserve a coupe of tablespoons to add at the end), then add halved cherry tomatoes.  Cook on low for a couple of minutes.  

Add 1/2 cup of cream.

Add rigatoni directly from the water to the saute pan.  The Spider Skimmer is especially helpful for this.

Toss the pasta and the sauce.  The Tongs are especially helpful with this.

Cook the pasta in the sauce for 3-5 minutes on low heat.  By finishing the pasta cooking in the sauce with a little pasta water, the sauce will be absorbed into the pasta, and it will become one.  

Add a dollop of pesto at the end to add a little brightness.  Toss with tongs.

Slice the grilled chicken.

Cube fresh mozzarella.

Top pasta with chicken and fresh mozzarella.

Our Favorite Spaghetti Sauce & "Homemade" Garlic Bread

Is it just me or did something change in the air this week.  Every year about this time the smell of the air gives me the most nostalgic feeling of Back-to-School.  Emma's school has not resumed yet and we're relishing our last lazy days of summer.  Mike gave me a little break and took her to the park this morning so I could have an hour on the computer to get some thoughts out... secretly, I think he just wanted to be outside on this almost fall 60 degree morning.

One of my goals for our break was to do some freezer cooking to prepare for a busy Fall season.  With new products coming out next week, then jumping into Halloween, Thanksgiving and Holiday collections soon after, the fall is looking to be busy.  I don't want our family mealtime to be sacrificed, so I have been stocking the freezer.  Once a week we have Spaghetti and Meatballs, my all time favorite comfort dinner.  We usually have "Spaghetti Sunday" and let the sauce simmer all day, make homemade meatballs (which are much easier than you think), garlic bread (recipe below) and stuff ourselves silly.



We had a favorite Tomato Sauce that I used for years, always tweaking it and making little changes... until one day Tessa (nineandsixteen.blogspot.com) shared a recipe that seemed so intriguing, I had to try it.  The recipe is all over the internet, most of you have probably heard of it - Marcella's Sauce.  The name had an even more special name to me because in our family our Granny's (also a Marcella) Spaghetti Sauce is something that everyone loves - and still makes.  This sauce reminded me so much of her famed sauce.



It is so easy, you'll never believe it.  I've shared it with many friends, but have never posted it here and have many requests to do so since I rave about it all of the time.  It has become our go-to sauce, not because it is easy, but because it is the best tomato sauce I've ever had.  We now just refer to it as The Sauce.

Marcella's Tomato Sauce
The Sauce  
1 28-ounce can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes (san marzano are the best quality) 
1 white onion, peeled and cut in half
5 tablespoons of butter

In a medium sauce pot, add all ingredients.  Simmer for 40 minutes.  With a wooden spoon, break up whole tomatoes.  No seasoning, herbs or a little of this or that needed.  

Serve with spaghetti, meatballs (here is my very easy recipe for Homemade Meatballs) and real parmesan cheese.

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If you've followed this blog for a while then you know I have a love for frozen store-bought bread dough.  I watched the new Barefoot Contessa episode the other day and she made homemade bread with her friend, Eli.  I instantly craved the smell of fresh baked bread... well, if you know anything about bread baking, there is no "instant" about it.   Unless...

...you use frozen dough.  Instead of a classic loaf of bread, we used the dough to create a crusty baguette style loaf by stretching it long and twisting it.  Emma helped me by brushing it with an egg wash, then sprinkling on Garlic Salt.  

Such a good helper.  I always let her do the fun messy stuff, of course.

Here she is telling one of her elaborate stories.  The hand gestures are my favorite parts of her stories usually starting with, "Long, Long ago... "

"Homemade"
Garlic Bread

1 loaf of frozen bread dough (I use Rhodes, found in most stores)
flour
egg wash (1 egg beaten with water)
1 tablespoon of garlic salt

Let the dough thaw according to directions on package.  We usually defrost ours in the microwave for about a minute or two, then let it sit on the counter, covered with plastic for a couple of hours. 

The dough will be slightly puffy when ready to shape into the baguette.  Stretch it and twist it to fit on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush it with the egg wash, then sprinkle with garlic salt.

Let rise for 1 more hour until slightly puffed.  Bake at 450 degrees for 10-14 minutes until golden.

Dough has risen slightly, here, and is ready for the oven.

Crusty and soft in the middle!

Golden brown with a delicious garlicy salt crust.

In case you haven't seen my "Homemade" Cinnamon Rolls recipe, you must stop here next!