Spring Outside? Pffft! Spring In My Kitchen? Hell Yes!

Hypothetically, spring has sprung, although if you ask me, it still feels like winter is here given the current weather in the Providence, RI area.  I hardly consider 30’s and 40’s “spring”.  Regardless, I’m doing my efforts to hurry Mother Nature along in bringing in the warmth.  Aside from wearing my polo shirts and a light spring jacket every day, I decided to start making some of my favorite spring time meals.  If it’s not spring-like outside, it can at least be spring-ish in my kitchen!  To that end, I made Penne with Spring Greens in White Wine Cream Sauce with Sundried Tomato Chicken and a Balsamic Glaze the other night.  This was a new recipe for me, and all-in-all, I think it’s a keeper.  I’d make a few edits for next time, though, which you will see noted below.

Chicken

• 2 Chicken Breasts
• 2 tbsp. Sundried Tomato Rub **I find this in with the seasonings in my local grocery store, but Pampered Chef also makes a great one.  You can use whatever flavor rub or seasoning you think goes best with this though!**
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• Pinch of Ground Black Pepper

Penne

• ¾ lb. Asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 tbsp. Butter
• 3 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 3 Bunches Green (spring) Onion or Scallions, white and pale green part only
  **Save the green pieces for garnishing the plate**
• 6 oz. Baby Spinach Leaves, roughly chopped
• ½ lb. Fresh or Frozen Peas
• ½ cup Dry White Wine (I used a dry Riesling)
• ½ cup Heavy Cream 
  **To me, the sauce was a bit thin, so I would use ¾-1 cup cream next time, and perhaps a splash more wine**
  ½ cup Fresh Basil, minced
• 1 lb Penne Pasta
• ½ cup Fresh Grated Parmesan, for topping
  **Instead, I used a few fresh Parmesan peels.  I like the look and taste more.  It adds a heavier cheese flavor to each bite.**

Balsamic Glaze

• 2 cups Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 tsp. cornstarch

First, preheat the oven to 375-degrees.  Lightly spray a baking pan with cooking spray and place your chicken breasts in.  Apply your rub or seasoning to your chicken breasts along with a pinch of salt and pepper (to taste) and bake until moist and cooked through, about 35-40 minutes.

Bring a large pasta pot of water to a boil with a few pinches of salt for blanching the asparagus.  Add the asparagus to the water and cook until tender, about 4-5 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl for later.  Return the water to a boil.  Once boiling, add the pasta and cook following the directions on the box.

Now, to make your balsamic glaze, dissolve the cornstarch in the balsamic vinegar, place in a small sauce pan and heat over medium-high heat until the vinegar has started to thicken and is bubbling gently at the surface, about 15-17 minutes.  This will make a large amount of balsamic glaze.  While you will only use a few spoonfuls in this meal, it stores in an airtight container in your fridge for up to a month and is wonderful on pastas, chickens, salads or anything else you may like the taste of balsamic on!

Next, begin the sauce by placing the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat until the butter has melted.  Add the green onions and sauté until just wilted, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the spinach and peas and sauté until the spinach is wilted, about 3 more minutes.  Toss in the blanched asparagus and stir in the wine, cooking until the alcohol has cooked off, about 1 minute.  Stir in the cream and cook until heated through, about 1-2 additional minutes.  Add the basil and remove from heat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Once your pasta has cooked, drain it in a colander and then return it to the large empty pasta pot.  Pour the sauce over the pasta and place back on the burner on low heat, stirring occasionally to blend the flavors.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven and slice it lengthwise, creating long strips you can lay across the top of the pasta dish.

Last is my favorite part of any meal, the plating and presentation.  There will be a whole post dedicated to this in the near future, but suffice it to say here, presentation is nearly as important as taste to me (hence the photos of food being like porn to me, leading to the name of this blog!)  I am constantly accused of being an “over-plater” due to the large portions I tend to serve, but who cares. I’d rather die fat and happy, full of good food than thin and hungry because people didn’t put enough sustenance on my damn plate!

With that, using a medium sized pasta bowl, put a few heaping scoops of pasta in, until it just creates a mound in the bowl.  Then, lay a few of your chicken strips around the mount, coming to a point at the top.  On top of the dish, place 3-4 Parmesan cheese peels (just run a regular vegetable peeler over a wedge of fresh Parmesan to create these).  Drizzle a spoonful or two of the balsamic over the chicken and cheese for an added burst of flavor.   Lastly, take a few of the greens from your green onions and place them artistically around the outside of your bowl.

Pour yourself a nice glass of that dry white wine you used a bit of in the dish and enjoy this colorful springtime pasta dish.  Hell, you worked hard on dinner tonight, pour yourself two (I know I did!)