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Asiago Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach - with everything smothered in a delicious Asiago cheese sauce. Easy recipe that tastes great and looks great.
If you love Asiago cheese, this is a great recipe to try! Asiago definitely has a very strong and distinctive flavor, and when melted into a creamy sauce for this Asiago Chicken Pasta, that flavor becomes more smooth yet you can still recognize it's an Asiago cheese. To me, using Asiago cheese in a pasta sauce is my favorite way to use it. And it is perfectly complemented by chicken sauteed with garlic, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes!
Short pasta, such as penne, is perfect for creamy pasta recipes like this one - Asiago cheese cream sauce perfectly coats every single pasta bite. Both pasta and chicken are literally drowning in the Asiago sauce deliciousness! This recipe can easily be made gluten free by using gluten free brown rice penne.
Asiago Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne pasta (use gluten free brown rice penne, for gluten free version)
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes with oil 2 tablespoons
- 1 lb chicken breast sliced in half, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup half and half and more - (half milk - half cream to form a lighter cream)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Asiago cheese shredded
- 2 cups spinach fresh
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain, rinse.
- Use sun-dried tomatoes in oil - if the sun-dried tomatoes are too big, chop them into smaller bites.
- Heat sun-dried tomatoes (cut them) in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and chopped garlic on medium heat. Add chopped chicken breast to the sun-dried tomatoes and oil - generously season the chicken in the skillet with salt and paprika. Cook chicken until it's cooked through completely.
- To the same skillet with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes, add 1 cup of half and half and ¼ teaspoon salt - bring to boil. Add ½ cup of grated Asiago cheese (half of what the recipe calls for) and stir for about 30 seconds to melt the cheese. Reduce the heat from boil to medium and continue stirring to make sure all cheese melts. At this point, if the sauce is too thin, gradually add the remaining ½ of Asiago cheese on medium heat, constantly stirring all around the skillet.
- If the sauce gets too thick, add another ⅓ cup of half and half and stir.
- Taste the sauce - if ¼ teaspoon salt was not enough, add more.
- Add cooked and drained pasta to the sauce. Add spinach, mix everything - cover with the lid and let the pasta sit to allow spinach to wilt, on low simmer. After spinach has wilted, stir everything together to combine, taste and add more salt, if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I made this recipe for mum on Mother's Day and it was so delicious! A perfect recipe! Thank you!
Ali - thank you! So glad you liked it!
Making tonight, looks fantastic!!!
Thank you, Kelly! 🙂
This was delicious!! On the regular rotation at our house! Thanks for posting the recipe!!
Jackie - so glad you liked it!
One of the ingredients in this recipe -Asiago Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach is 1 cup half and half (and more) what is this?
In the Instructions it also refers to 1 cup half and half (and more).
Jenny,
Half and half is half regular milk and half whipping cream (heavy cream). If you live in England half and half would be the equivalent of single cream. Alternatively, you can mix half double cream and half regular milk.
Made this for my boyfriend. He said it was by far his most favorite thing I have ever made. Asiago is my favorite cheese so we both enjoyed it. Simple recipe with a delicious outcome.
Rachel, what a sweet comment! I love it when people love my recipes! Thank you!
I made this receipe last night for my family and it was so good! Plus it was super simple to make! Thanks for sharing! I will defiantly be making this again!
Thank you, Susan, I am really happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
I loved this.... Really simple and delicious. Great for people with minimal experience cooking, like me!
Sorry am I missing something, what's is a cup of half and half ?
🙂
So am not the only one ,, half and half ,, 🙂
We get it in the US, and it is half cream and half milk
What would be a good substitute for the Asiago Cheese - I am not permitted to have dairy - jus curious to see what you thought!
You wouldn't be able to make this dish with half and half or asiago cheese, so I would use a can 14.5/15 oz. of diced tomatoes w/basil or chilies for flavor and add mushrooms too.
This was delicious. I was honestly surprised how my family gobbled it up. However, I didn't like that the recipe kept saying to add salt. I eliminated the salt, added extra garlic (we LOVE garlic!) and a tablespoon of (dried) oregano. It was very flavorful!
Thanks for the recipe!
It's called seasoning. Makes a difference... and salt isn't bad for you. Just too much salt.
so I made this tonight but my sauce was chunky from the cheese. did I cook it to long?
Did you grate it properly? I've made a lot of mistakes like this before, and it usually happens when I pile the cheese instead of spreading it out on the pan/pot.
If this happens just keep the heat to medium low and stir until the cheese melts. You can also add the cheese in 2 portions, adding the second half after the first has melted completely. I hope this helps! -Louise
I had the same experience. Giant lumps of cheese, not exactly a sauce and I added it in batches. I thought it was because I tried fat free half and half...I'm certain that didn't help. It still tasted good just wasn't the consistency I hoped for.
would this work as well with kale?
Nooooo! For the love of god! It will catch fire and explode if you kale! Not kale!
This was a great dish. I did add italian sausage and some baked roma tomatoes for additional flavour. Delicious.
OMG! This turned out better than I expected! I added a can on fire roasted diced tomatoes, a handful of fresh basil, and some shredded raw white cheddar on top of the asiago! YUM! Made it for a house full of boys and they LOVED it! Thanks for the recipe!
Delicious! Sun-dried tomatoes are so flavorful...one of my favorite ingredients to add to pasta. Thanks for the recipe!