Tuscan Garlic Chicken

adapted: melskitchencafe.com

One guess where I found this dynamic, restaurant quality dish. If you guessed Pinterest, you are dead on. This dish has all the flavor that it looks like in its' picture. It is jam packed with a spinach, red bell pepper cheese sauce that I served with lemon wedges not included in the original recipe. I increased the spinach to a full bag because I love spinach so much. I was concerned about having a problem but none were to be found. I made this a couple of months ago, but my mouth still waters thinking about it!

I did make some changes from the original recipe. First, I used thin cut chicken breasts when the original called for regular b/s chicken breasts. This took out one of the cooking steps which was necessary to finish the cooking in the oven. Second, I didn't wipe out the pan after frying the chicken in it. There is some tasty oil/drippings that I wanted incorporated into the sauce.

Now, it did take a bit more time to prepare, but it was worth every second! I did do a thinner cut of chicken breast than what was noted in the first recipe and I think that really helped with the sauce to chicken ratio.

So, here we go!:

Ingredients (4 servings):
 3/4 cup flour
1/2 T. salt
1 t. pepper
1/2 t. dried basil
1/2 t. dried oregano
8 THIN CUT b/s chicken breasts
5 T. olive oil, DIVIDED
1 T. jarred garlic
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup LOW SODIUM chicken broth (very important otherwise too salty!)
1 package baby spinach
1/2 cup HEAVY cream
2 t. cornstarch
1 cup lowfat milk
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 pound fettuccine
Lemon wedges, optional

Directions:

1) In a Ziploc bag, combine flour salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Shake each piece of chicken until well coated. Get water started for your fettuccine.

2) In a large skillet, heat 3 T. olive oil over medium heat until oil is hot and shimmering. Place the chicken breast in the pan and fry 3-4 minutes each side. Do not move chicken in pan until it is time to flip it. The coating will fall off if you do. Once fried, move the chicken to a 9x13 pan and allow to continue to warm in a preheated 170 degree oven.

3) Prepare fettuccini according to package directions. Whisk together cornstarch and cream.

4) Add remaining 2 T. of olive oil to frying pan. When hot, add garlic and bell pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Stir in 1 T. flour and stir constantly. Add the chicken broth and switch to a low simmer while whisking constantly. This will thicken within 3-4 minutes.

5) Add cream/cornstarch mixture, milk and spinach to the pan. Continue stirring and let this simmer. Once the spinach has wilted and the sauce has thickened, add the Parmesan cheese.

6) The original recipe calls for mixing some of the sauce with the fettuccine. I did not do this and simply spooned it over the bed of fettuccine and 2 of the chicken breasts. I thought it photographed prettier that way. It is up to you how to serve it. Have lemon wedges to pass, if desired.

Serve immediately with a salad and bread sticks!