Almost Spaghetti Chicken
I love tomatos. Fresh ones are great in salads or slices on a plate to add color. This recipe is usually made with canned tomatos, but if you have the time to cook down fresh tomatos, you can kick it up a notch.

Recipe is for two servings.

You will need the following:

2 boneless chicken breasts, cleaned and all skin removed.
Flour
Pepper
Garlic powder (no salt)
Basil
(You can cheat by using a wonderful concoction of spices called Pappy’s Choice. It has all of this and even though it does have salt, it is not a lot)
Half package of sliced fresh mushrooms
Frozen green, yellow and red peppers, about 2 pinches of each
16-18 oz can of tomatos (get the tomatos without all the spices or additives, use a brand that has only tomatos and maybe some bell peppers in it)
If you are substituting fresh tomatos, you will need three medium tomatos and they need to be cut into small pieces.
About ½ cup of chicken stock or water

Heat a pan and just cover the bottom with olive oil. If you are using a cast iron skillet, make sure to season well before you start. Mix flour and spices together in a shallow bowl. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture. Make sure the chicken is well covered and that the flour is sticking to the chicken. If the flour is not sticking well, wet the breasts again and dredge. If you like a southwestern taste, you can substitute corn meal, but don’t dredge too heavy or the corn meal will be heavy and will burn. Once the pan is medium hot, place the flour-covered chicken in pan and turn heat up. You want to brown the chicken rapidly, turning often. Once the chicken is well browned, turn down heat and add stock or water. Cover and let chicken simmer for about a half an hour until it is starting to turn tender. Let the stock steam the chicken for a tender and flavor-full breast.

In a medium sauté pan put in tomatos, juice and all. Cook them until they are simmering. Add about a pinch or so of garlic powder, basil, and oregano to the tomatos. Add spices to your own taste, I use fresh garlic and use a whole clove, but you need to spice things up to your tastes. Cumin will spice it up southwestern, too! Experiment with tastes and textures until you find exactly what you want. The tomatos are simmering and your kitchen is now filled with the aroma of spices and tomatos tempting your tastebuds. Add the mushrooms and just cook them until they start to soften. Add the peppers for color. When the sauce is almost done, remove lid from pan and cook down the liquid as you would like.

If you like a very liquid sauce, don’t cook off much liquid. If you are like me and you like it chucky and very thick, you would cook off much more liquid. It all depends on your tastes and how much liquid is left from tomatos. Start making your favorite pasta. I just adore the pasta that is red, green and orange. Looks so good and tastes good, too. The pasta will just be done when the chicken is done and sauce is ready.

Drain pasta and arrange on plate. Take chicken breast out of pan and place in center of pasta. Spoon tomato sauce onto chicken. It will be not be smooth. It is not supposed to be. It is supposed to be a full flavored, chunky tomato, mushroom loving sauce. I garnish with a French bread or sometimes just a green salad with vinaigrette dressing will be all that is needed to finish the picture. Enjoy!

- posted by Shar @ 12:00 AM