Chicken Pasta Puttanescish - another 30 minute dinner

There is a dish called Pasta Puttanesca.  This is my version made with chicken not quite the same but similar flavours which is why I call it Pasta Puttanescish.  If you like kalamata olives and sun dried tomatoes this is the dish for you.  It is a raunchy strong flavoured pasta and is a favorite of Andrew and Naomi.  The best part is it takes less than 30 minutes to prepare from start to finish.

You can substitute a two cans of tuna for the chicken.

Tip of the Day  Stock up on boneless skinless chicken breasts or bone and skin them yourself when they are on sale.  Package them individually in sandwich bags inside freezer bags and freeze them so you can easily take out as many as you need.  Defrost them in the microwave. This allows you to make a variety of dishes quickly and gives the flexibility of making as much or as little as needed.

My friend asked me why I use Passata.  I like it because it is pure tomato puree with nothing else in it.  It is packaged in a jar which makes it easy to use as much as I need and refrigerate the rest.  Crushed canned tomato is very thick, tomato sauces have a a lot of other ingredients.  Most canned tomato products have a lot of salt in them.  I like to control the salt.  In a dish like this one with the sun dried tomatoes and the olives you don't need any added salt.

Pasta Puttanescish


Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups Passata (Italian tomato puree)
6 sun dried tomato halves (packed in oil) sliced

                                                              

1/2 cup sliced Kalamata olives (you can buy them sliced in a jar if you can't find them smash the olive with a knife and remove the pit, then slice)
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley

Whole Wheat Spaghetti  (or what ever pasta you like)
Parmesan cheese to grate on top


Instructions


Put the water on to cook your pasta.  Add pasta when water is boiling and cook to package directions.
Meanwhile heat a large skillet on high, add olive oil, add chicken and reduce heat to medium.  Leave to cook check to see if chicken moves easily, do not stir until it does.  (the meat sticks when it is raw but releases from the pan when it is cooked).
Add onions and stir until softened.  Add garlic, olives and sun dried tomatoes and stir.  Add Passata and stir to blend.  Reduce heat to low and leave until pasta is done
When pasta is done add parsley to sauce.  Put pasta into bowls and divide the sauce over the pasta and serve.
Pass the Parmesan to grate over the pasta.