Pasta with Chicken and Vegetables in Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce
11I’ve been craving pasta like crazy lately. I think part of it is that I’m ready for fall. I’m ready for the homey, comforting dishes, the stick-to-your-ribs food, the sauces. The carbs.
But I’m trying to reconcile that with the fact that summer produce is pretty great – and still pretty prevalent. Despite having a drought in a lot of the US, it seems that everyone still has a lot of zucchini they’re looking to use up. This recipe will not only do that, but it will also bridge the gap between end-of-summer and so-ready-for-fall-and-pumpkins-and-apples-and-stews-I-could-burst.
Really, though, you can use any kind of vegetables in this you want. I liked the ones Jessica used, so I decided to stick with them. This recipe has made the rounds recently and has subsequently gone through a few adaptations. And who am I to keep it the same as the previous person? I ended up using a combination of half and half and chicken broth to keep this creamy, but still keep the fat down a bit. I also doubled the amount of roasted garlic and quite honestly could have easily tripled it, which I may go ahead and do next time. (Dear garlic: I love you.) I roasted the vegetables, since the oven was already on roasting garlic and chicken, so a lot of this dish was pretty hands-off.
Because a lot of the ingredients are the same, this reminded me of the Cajun chicken pasta, except of course the sauce is more garlicky than spicy. Basically, pasta + cream sauce will always win me over, no matter what time of year.
Pasta with Chicken and Vegetables in Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce
Adapted from Sunny Side Up in San Diego, originally from Mrs. Reguiero’s Plate
2 (or 3!) large heads of garlic
2 small zucchini, sliced or chopped
1 large red pepper, cut into strips
1 large green pepper, cut into strips
8 oz. mushrooms, quartered
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. chicken breasts
.75 cups chicken broth
1.25 cups half and half
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
14-16 oz. pasta (I used whole wheat linguine)
Chopped parsley or basil
Preheat the oven to 400. Remove the outer, thin papery skins from the heads of garlic, keeping the cloves/head fully intact. Slice the top of the heads off, exposing the cloves. Place each head on a square of aluminum foil, on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and loosely wrap in the foil. Roast for about 45 minutes, until the cloves are golden and soft. Set aside to cool slightly. Once cooler, squeeze the garlic cloves out of each head (they should just plop right out). Mash lightly with a fork.
Meanwhile, toss the zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, and olive oil together on a rimmed baking sheet. Season to taste with salt and pepper and roast for about 15-20 minutes, until tender.
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and roast alongside everything else until cooked through (about 25 minutes for boneless/skinless breasts, about 40 minutes for bone-in chicken).
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt, and stir in the linguine. Cook until al dente, and then drain.
In the meantime, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Stir together the half and half and cornstarch until combined, and then add to the pan with the broth. Add the roasted garlic paste. Simmer until thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add the cheese.
Toss together the pasta, sauce, vegetables, and chicken. Sprinkle with basil or parsley and additional cheese as desired.
That mix of veggies with the whole wheat pasta and the cream sauce sounds amazing!
I seem to be both eagerly awaiting fall and mourning the imminent loss of summer at the moment. It’s a weird feeling. I love the sound of this pasta dish! Anything roasted garlic can’t help but win me over.
I love this pasta dish!
This is such a good recipe!! When I made it I grilled the chicken and the veggies before tossing them with the pasta and sauce – so good!!! I agree with you on the garlic. There’s no such thing as too much!!
I just made a version of this, it is posting tomorrow. Cream sauce is SO good on anything.
It’s funny how I see this dish popping up everywhere again ever since Jessica made it, but it’s a nice reminder on how much we loved it and how roasted garlic makes everything better!! MMMMM, glad you enjoyed it!! Looks absolutely fantastic!
I made this dish tonight with some tweaks (fat free etc) and it was delicious!!! Well done! This is a keeper! Plus I was able to use a ton of my produce!
Awesome, glad you liked it!
The timing of your post was so funny! Seriously, the day before you posted this I made this for dinner and at the last minute decided to roast the veggies! It was delicious with the roasted veggies! And what could make roasted garlic sauce taste even better? More garlic! Good call!
I don’t eat cheese…so should I eliminate it and use the proportions as listed or add more broth, half and half and cornstarch? Using roasted veggies sounds really yummy for this recipe!
Dianna, I think you will be fine just omitting it. It does thicken it a bit, so you could add a little cornstarch if necessary.