Sunday 19 July 2015

Tortellini with tomato bacon spinach and white wine


1 pound chicken (chicken breast or tenders)






1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 tsp of ground chillies
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (thyme, oregano, basil 
combined)
1 tub of small tomatoes, chopped in half 
1tbs of chicken powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cooked spinach
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
6 bacon strips,
1 and 1/3 cups half and half of retsina white dry wine
1 and 1/3 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded
10 oz penne pasta or tortellini
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, for serving
Salt and black pepper 



Instructions

In a large skillet, on high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil until hot. Add chicken and cook on one side on high heat for 1 minute. While it cooks, sprinkle the uncooked sides of the chicken with paprika and Italian seasoning chicken stock powder Flip the chicken over, and cook on the other side for 1 minute on high heat. Reduce heat to medium, flip chicken over again and cook, covered, for several minutes until no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from the pan and keep chicken warm.
To the same pan (but without chicken), add chopped tomatoes, spinach, garlic, crushed red pepper, chillies chicken stock 1/3 of the chicken (sliced into small strips) and half the bacon (already cooked and drained of fat). Mix everything.
Add half and half of the wine and bring to boil. Only after wine starts boiling, add grated Parmesan cheese - immediately reduce to simmer and stir, while simmering, until the cheese melts and makes the sauce creamy, only about 1 minute (at most 2 minutes). Then, immediately remove from heat. Season with more crushed red pepper and salt, if needed.
In the meant time bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add the tortellini and cook as per instructions. drain pasta and add pasta to the skillet with the sauce. Add remaining half of bacon (cooked and drained of fat). Season with more salt if necessary. Slice the remaining 2/3 of chicken into thin strips. To serve, top the pasta with chicken strips and grated Parmesan cheese.