Chicken Penne Pasta and Peas with Spicy Creamy Tomato Sauce

Chicken Penne Pasta and Peas in Spicy Creamy Tomato Sauce – flavorful chicken breast cooked with basil and crushed red pepper in a spicy and creamy tomato Mozzarella sauce with pasta and peas. This dish is so easy to make, but tastes and looks like it’s from a fancy Italian restaurant!

Cook’s tips

• Slice chicken breast horizontally in half, before cooking it, to make it thinner. It makes cooking the chicken quicker and easier.
• When you boil pasta in a pot of boiling water, add frozen peas to pasta during the last 3 minutes of cooking. This saves time and saves the number of cooking pans you have to use.
• Use shredded Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese to make the creamy sauce.

How to make chicken penne gluten free

• Use gluten free penne, such as brown rice penne or penne made from chickpeas or quinoa.
• Use gluten free tomato sauce. Check the ingredient list on the tomato sauce can.

How to make chicken penne

First, season 1 pound of chicken breast (sliced in half horizontally, to make it thinner and quicker to cook) with salt, dry basil, crushed red pepper. Cook the chicken breast in olive oil until it’s fully cooked, then slice it into small cubes:

Start making the creamy pasta sauce by combining garlic, basil, more crushed red pepper flakes, and tomato sauce (I used one can of Hunt’s tomato sauce) with Mozzarella cheese.  Mozzarella will melt nicely and taste so good with the tomato sauce:

Then, add heavy cream:

Finally, combine cooked penne pasta, cooked peas, cooked chicken together in a homemade tomato cream sauce:

I hope you will enjoy this simple and delicious chicken penne pasta!

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Spicy Garlic Chicken Penne with Peas

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

Chicken Penne and Peas with Spicy Creamy Tomato Sauce - flavorful and easy-to-make pasta dish.  Chicken breast is cooked with basil and crushed red pepper in a spicy and creamy tomato Mozzarella sauce with pasta and peas.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 704 kcal

Author: Julia

Ingredients

Chicken breast:

• 1 pound chicken breast , skinless and boneless, halved horizontally
• salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Pasta:

• 10 oz penne pasta

Peas:

• 1 cup green peas frozen

Creamy tomato sauce:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 15 oz tomato sauce (15 oz can - I used Hunt's)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

How to cook chicken breast:

1. Cut chicken breast horizontally in half, to make it thinner. Season both chicken breast halves generously with salt and also with 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon dry basil - on both sides.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on high-medium heat in a large skillet. Add seasoned chicken breast halves and cook on one side for about 3-4 minutes on high-medium heat. 

3. Flip the chicken over to the other side and cook for another 3 minutes. 

4. Remove the skillet from the heat, cover with the lid and let the chicken sit in the skillet off heat - it will continue cooking. After about 10-15 minutes, the chicken should be fully cooked and no longer pink in the center - remove the chicken from the skillet and slice into cubes. Set aside.

How to cook penne:

1. Cook penne pasta in salted water according to package instructions. 

2. Add peas to pasta during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain and rinse with cold water.

How to make creamy sauce:

1. To the same skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 6 cloves of minced garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes - cook on medium heat for 1 minutes until garlic is fragrant. 

2. Add tomato sauce, 1/2 teaspoon dry basil, stir and bring to boil - immediately reduce to simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, covered. 

3. Add shredded mozzarella cheese to the sauce and stir to melt until cheese is completely melted and the sauce thickens - 30 seconds. With heat on simmer, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and stir to combine.

Assembling chicken penne pasta:

1. Add cooked and rinsed penne pasta, peas, and cooked sliced chicken to the sauce. Mix to combine. 

2. If you cooked pasta in salted water, if you seasoned chicken generously with salt and used canned tomato sauce - there is really no need to add salt at this point as everything should be just perfect. Nevertheless, taste your final pasta and add salt if necessary.

Nutrition Facts

Spicy Garlic Chicken Penne with Peas

Amount Per Serving

Calories 704 Calories from Fat 252

% Daily Value*

Fat 28g43%

Saturated Fat 12g75%

Cholesterol 135mg45%

Sodium 890mg39%

Potassium 1079mg31%

Carbohydrates 67g22%

Fiber 6g25%

Sugar 8g9%

Protein 43g86%

Vitamin A 1545IU31%

Vitamin C 24.7mg30%

Calcium 221mg22%

Iron 3.5mg19%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.