[Gluten-Free] Rose Pasta with Chicken and Veggies (Creamy Tomato)

My daughter is not a fan of the idea of tomatoes. So we call this “Rose Pasta.” It’s a great easy take on tomato cream sauce with items you typically have on hand in the house. We had leftover mushrooms, heavy cream, and chicken thighs and decided we wanted Italian inspired pasta as a treat after a good workout. Rose pasta was born. My picky eater asks me to make this sometimes now, it’s a great go to.

Ingredients you’ll need:

Chicken:

• 4 Tbsp butter (divided in half)

• 2.5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs

• 2 Tbsp of rice flour

• 1 Tbsp of arrowroot flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

Noodles:

• 2.5 c of gluten free pasta of your choice (I used medium shells)

Sauce:

• 1/2 white onion, diced

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 8 oz of white mushrooms (1 sm container), sliced

• 1 (14oz) can of petite diced tomatoes

• 1/2 c of chicken broth

• 1 Tbsp of fresh, frozen or freeze dried basil

• 1/2 c heavy cream

• 1 tsp pepper

• 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

Garnish: Fresh chopped parsley or basil and grated Parmesan cheese.

Kitchen “stuff” you’ll need:

Stock pot, Cutting board, Large knife, Gallon size plastic bag, Tongs, Large skillet (6qt) or dutch oven, colander, wooden spoon, serving spoon.

Prep.

Place the chicken in a gallon sized bag with flours, salt and pepper and toss until evenly coated, set aside. Dice onions, mince garlic, slice mushrooms, grate the parmesan cheese, and open the tomato can to have ready. Take out the chicken broth and heavy cream and set aside. Fill a stock pot with water and set on burner.

Create.

In a large non-stick skillet on medium high heat, melt 2 Tbsp of butter and heat until hot. Using tongs, place chicken pieces in single layer on the skillet do not overlap (may need to be done in batches). Cook on each side for 5 min until golden brown on both sides and almost, if not entirely, cooked. While cooking on the first side, turn on your burner with the stock pot to bring the water to a boil. Once cooked, transfer the chicken to a plate.

In the same pan add remaining butter. Once melted add onions and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to saute until mushrooms begin to turn a darker brown color, about 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth and basil and bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes. Once simmering, add heavy cream and pepper and bring to a simmer again. Reduce heat to medium/medium low and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. While simmering, slice chicken into strips carefully (may be hot) and pasta should be ready to add to the boiling water. Cook pasta according to instructed time.

Add chicken back to pan with sauce mixture and continue to simmer about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta and add to the pan, stir in well and serve.

Finish.

Sprinkle with fresh parsley/basil and grated parmesan cheese and enjoy.

“Can we have the ROSE PASTA tonight?”

Substitutions: Some recipes don’t turn out as good with subs - these are perfectly fine below - all have been tested.

Onions - 3 shallots diced, 1/2 small yellow onion diced

Basil - fresh chopped, frozen cubes or freeze dried - all equivalent values of 1 Tbsp

Mushrooms - can be subbed for asparagus, zucchini, sundried tomatoes, chickpeas, or eggplant

Not gluten free? - sub flours for all purpose flour, and sub pasta for your favorite pasta

Dairy free? - sub heavy cream for a nut based unsweetened creamer, parmesan cheese with 3 T of nutritional yeast and 1 t of salt, and butter for Ghee