Penne with sun-dried tomato cream sauce is fast enough for a weeknight dinner but fancy enough for a special dinner for two.
It’s rich and creamy and loaded with flavour. You can even make it a vegetarian dish by just leaving out the chicken.
This is the type of pasta you get in a restaurant. It’s all about taste. It’s unapologetic. There’s no consideration whatsoever given to anything but taste in fact.
Butter, cream, cheese and pasta. Little bits of sun-dried tomatoes and chicken to mix it up. Fresh crushed black pepper, fresh basil and chili flakes to finish it off.
But it’s simple too. Straight-forward. Not too fussy. Great for family dinners.
Sun-dried tomatoes and cream are a killer combo
And the sun-dried tomatoes add a little something special. A burst of tomato flavour. It takes what could be an otherwise heavy dish and lightens it.
Butter, cream and cheese. That’s pretty much an Alfredo. But when you add the tomatoes everything changes. And that opens up the door for the basil.
Two simple ingredients and all of a sudden it’s penne with sun-dried tomato cream sauce. Completely different.
penne with sun-dried tomato cream sauce
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts or 6 chicken thighs - boneless and skinless
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or pasta cooking water
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2/3 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil sliced thinly
- 1 cup parmegiana reggiano grated
- salt to taste start at about 1/2 tsp and adjust from there. You’ll be surprised how much it takes.
- 1/2-1 tsp red chili flakes
- 12 oz penne
- fresh ground black pepper
- a few basil leaves shredded
Instructions
- Heat a large pot of water and salt it well. Well salted means it tastes like the sea.
- Cook the pasta per package instructions. Use a timer.
- Drain the pasta and reserve a cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Melt the butter in a pan large enough to hold all the cooked pasta with some room to spare.
- Add the chicken and cook until it starts to brown. This will take about 5 minutes.
- Mix in the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the chicken stock or pasta water and salt. Cook until the chicken is almost done. This will take another three minutes or so. Some of the water will evaporate.
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes and cream. Bring to a simmer.
- Stir in the parmigiano reggiano, Taste and adjust for salt then add the pasta.
- Simmer the pasta for a minute, stirring constantly to thoroughly coat the pasta with the sauce and distribute the tomatoes.
- To serve, divide into four portions and garnish with black pepper, a bit more parmigiana reggiano and the shredded basil.
Notes
I’m a big fan of Indian food. I grew up on it so it’s in my blood. Homestyle Indian, mind you. Not what you get in restaurants. Tandoori chicken was always going on. It’s the Indian equivalent of a backyard barbecue.
That’s why I don’t understand why it’s never very good in restaurants. My parents had a backyard grill. Restaurants have a tandoor oven. They should win. Makes no sense.
Maybe it’s because my parents cooked over charcoal. Maybe it’s a happy filter I put on my childhood. I don’t know. But I do know I can make better tandoori chicken at home and so can you.
Watch how to make tandoori chicken
Tandoori chicken needs high temperature – set your grill on max
Charcoal grills help a lot. It will work with gas but it won’t have that charcoal magic to push it over the top. I know. I’m annoying on this subject.
But I just love the taste of anything cooked over charcoal. And this tandoori chicken is no exception.
No matter what grill you use, high heat is key. A tandoor is blazing hot. Hotter then you can get your grill. So crank it up when you make tandoori chicken. Maximum, indirect heat.
