Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Pasta with Chicken Breast, Zucchini and Tomatoes

I never knew what I was getting into when I planted 3 tiny zucchini plants last May. As recommended by GardenWeb members I have planted 3 seedlings on top of mound that was around 8” in diameter and 3“ high. Now it occupies area about 3 X 6 feet! And are they ever prolific! I had to find all kinds of uses for this great summer squash and one of our favorite ones is wide pasta noodles with sautéed onions, garlic, zucchini and tomatoes. Very quick and light summer meal.
Ingredients
1 small chicken breast cut into thin strips
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and sliced 1/4” thin
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbs. Olive oil
1 Tbs. Balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. maple syrup
2 Tbs. chopped fresh basil or parsley
Salt and pepper
Wide noodles, penne or fettuccine
1tbs butter
Directions
Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and toss with butter and keep warm. While the pasta is cooking heat olive oil in frying pan and sauté chicken breast pieces that were seasoned with salt and pepper for about 10 minutes or until light golden brown on all sides. Add onions, garlic, zucchini and tomatoes and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Season with balsamic vinegar, pinch of salt and pepper. Drop cooked pasta into frying pan with sauce and toss till pasta is well coated with the sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley or fresh basil and serve.

2 comments:

Ferdzy said...

Jerry I am totally envious. Our squash, both summer and winter were pretty much a failure this year thanks to zillions and zillions of bugs. Bah, humbug. Hope we have a good hard winter this year. Much as it pains me to say that.

Jerry said...

We had a huge problem with tiny little white flies on everything that grew, especially heirloom and San Marzano tomatoes. Besides blackish residue there was no visual or other damage. But yes, I was surprised as to how prolific zucchini are. BTW, I have another 2 zucchini female flowers and 1 male flower today so they still keep producing!!! Oh, and I did help mother Nature by removing petals from male flower and then pollinating all open female flowers. Little help never hurts, ne se pas?