Creamy Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Pasta

Quarantine Day 9287473829.

Or at least that's what it feels like.  Mostly due to anxiety.  Every time one of us coughs, it sends a panic shock through the house (at least for me).  The worries cause tension, of course, and the age old question of "What should we have for dinner" is a little loaded because we can't/won't go out if we're missing an ingredient. 

And I'm a crazy person, so when I see a recipe call for an ingredient I have in limited supply, I discard it because the thoughts "What if I want to use that ingredient later?!" overtake any rational ideas.

Luckily, we do love trying new recipes and I have a whole enormous Pinterest board filled with ideas, which is where we found this one.  I actually pinned this one years ago, but today proved a perfect opportunity for it.  We had heavy cream in the house because we wanted to make a soup and I forgot how much we needed, so I bought the big carton and now we have leftover!  It actually calls for half-and-half, which you may have handy, but we made our own with the heavy cream and milk.  It's what makes it delicious, so don't skimp.

Also, we have a tendency to follow recipes very closely on our first attempt, and then we critique and decide what to change next time.  Here were our thoughts:

• This could easily be doubled to include a whole (16oz) box of pasta, which would provide LOTS of leftovers for lunches.
• We would add some veggies.  My vote was peas or asparagus.  Jeff voted for broccoli or even green beans.  Mushrooms would also be great in it (but I hate them so not in our house!)
• We would add more pasta-water.  Not because it was too thick; frankly the texture was perfect.  Creamy, cheesy, without being too heavy.  No, the sauce was so good we would be okay if there was some to soak up with bread!  (don't @ me, we're under quarantine chasing 2 small children and using time on our treadmill; I'll eat carbs on carbs if I want.)
• The original recipe called for cooking the chicken with the onions first in the skillet.  We did not.  We baked it, and it was great and less work (and less dry).
• Most importantly,  you're going to need a pretty sizable skillet.  We used our wok.  You're making the sauce, adding the chicken, and mixing the pasta straight into it.  Choose your vessel carefully.

With that in mind, you can add whatever you'd like!

Final Product

Creamy Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Pasta

Adapted from here

2 garlic cloves, minced

4oz sun-dried tomatoes

2 tablespoon olive oil

1lb chicken breast

Salt

Garlic powder

Paprika

1 cup half-and-half (or 1/2 cup heavy cream + 1/2 cup milk)

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

8oz pasta (we used penne, but you can use any)

Basil

Red pepper flakes

Parsley

1/4 to 1/2 cup pasta water

1. Preheat oven to 400*.  Pour olive oil into a glass baking dish.  Place chicken breasts in baking dish and generously sprinkle salt, garlic powder, and paprika over the chicken.  Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness.  Use a thermometer to determine doneness (should be 165*).  Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing or dicing to your preference for the pasta.
2. While chicken is baking, boil well-salted water for pasta.  Cook until al dente and drain, saving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water for later.  Set to the side.
3. After the chicken is done, scoop 2-3 tablespoons of the seasoned oil from the baking dish that held the chicken into your skillet.  You can use fresh, but this has all kinds of good seasoning in it already so you won't need to add as much.  Cook onions until translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
4. Add in minced garlic and sun-dried tomatoes.  Saute about 2 more minutes.  Mix chicken into the skillet as well.
5. Pour in your half-and-half and sprinkle in cheese.  Stir constantly until the cheese is melted and the sauce thickens a bit.  Turn down heat to low.
6. Add in your pasta.  Remember if you cooked an entire box, that's usually 16oz and you've only made enough sauce for about half of that.
7. Shake in basil, parsley, and red pepper flakes for desired flavor.  Add a heavy pinch of salt to finish it off.
8. Continue stirring and slowly adding some of the reserved pasta water until it reaches your preferred consistency.  Make sure to stir for about 30 seconds before adding more water to allow the sauce to thin evenly.  You won't need much to do this.