Chicken Penne Al Fresco

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 cups grape tomatoes (can probably even use a drained can of tomatoes) or 2 cups cherry tomatoes (can probably even use a drained can of tomatoes)
• 3 cups penne pasta (i use mezze which is the small penne )
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup dry wine (i use pinot grigio)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 cups fresh basil leaves, lightly packed, divided
• 1 ounce parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup packed)
• 2 cups grilled chicken breasts, diced (if you dont have leftovers just cook up a breast or two using any quick method, i cut up and mw for )
• additional grated fresh parmesan cheese (optional)

Recipe

• 1 spray a mw safe lidded casserole. add garlic and tomatoes. cover; microwave on high 4-5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to burst, stirring after 2 minutes. crush tomatoes with fork and add uncooked pasta, broth, wine, salt and black pepper.
• 2 return baker to microwave; cover and microwave on high 16-18 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring after 10 minutes.
• 3 meanwhile, grate cheese and coarsely chop basil, reserve about 1/4th for later.
• 4 carefully remove baker from microwave and remove lid, lifting away from you. add remaining basil, cheese and chicken to baker; mix well.
• 5 garnish with reserved basil, additional parmesan cheese and black pepper, if desired.
• 6 tips: an additional 3/4 cup chicken broth can be substituted for the wine, if desired.
• 7 any tube-shaped pasta requiring 9-11 minutes cook time, such as penne or rigatoni, can be substituted for the mezze penne pasta.
• 8 to grill chicken in the grill pan, season 2 chicken breasts, about 6 oz each, with salt and black pepper. heat grill pan over medium-high heat 5 minutes. spray pan with oil. cook chicken 4-6 minutes or until grill marks appear. turn chicken over; cook 4-6 minutes or until center of chicken is no longer pink and pocket thermometer registers 170°f.