Six Cloves of Garlic Never Tasted so Subtle

Pasta, Chicken and Garlic.

Tired from 4 days at the beach and a lot of seafood, I've decided to get back to our routine
and do a little feel good, stay-at-home cooking.
It's raining out and there's nothing  better than making my house smell good with food...easiest way...garlic!

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Garlic Chicken and Pasta

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2 chicken breasts
6 cloves garlic
olive oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 cup water
2 cups Campanelle pasta
salt and pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Season and Sear In a a small bowl, marinate oil with 2 cloves grated garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, tablespoons lemon juice and parsley. Set aside. Cut the chicken breasts into 6 to 8 pieces, I try to make them the same thickness so that they will cook evenly. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet and sear chicken on one side for 3 to 4 minutes. I'm amazed at how this works, but if you REALLY leave the chicken ALONE for 3 to 4 minutes and not move it, it will get an amazing brown, true sear on the chicken. Flip chicken and sear the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat to a plate then cover with another plate (my version of tenting) and set skillet aside to cool for a minute or so.

Concentrate and Cook I'm not saying you have to pay extra attention now, I'm just expressing the fact that this is where a lot of the flavor comes into this dish. Once pan has cooled a bit add 3 tablespoons of oil and heat on medium-high heat, 5 cloves garlic and pepper flakes for about 3 minutes until garlic turns a tan color. Add wine and scrape up the brown parts left by cooked chicken with a wooden spoon and reduce liquid until almost gone. This is where the concentration part happens...make sure you cook the garlic and pepper flakes in the wine until the liquid is almost gone, the flavor in the end is amazing because of this step. Add water, chicken stock, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pasta. Pasta should simmer for about 15 minutes until liquid reduces and gets thick. 

Flavor and Flaunt Place chicken in pasta mixture and warm, about 1 to 2 minutes. Take off heat and add olive oil mixture marinating from step one. Flaunt your flavorful dish with a garnish of chopped parsley. 

The texture and flavor of the sauce will impress your taste buds. It actually looks like something from a restaurant. Six cloves of garlic never tasted so subtle.  

Recipe Ups and Downs

Okay, I have to admit, I have made this meal 4 times and finally I can write about it. The original recipe is from ATK Cooking for Two 2010 Skillet Shrimp Scampi with Campanelle Pasta. I made the ATK recipe to a tee the first round and it was delicious. I don't always have shrimp but I do have chicken, so round 2 I used chicken but realized I didn't cook the chicken at the right temperature or the pasta long enough...it was the right done-ness, but the sauce wasn't the correct thickness. Round three, also with chicken, I used WAY too many red pepper flakes and the whole dish ended up burning my mouth. The 4th round was a true success. I altered the original recipe by adding more wine, more chicken stock, less water and eliminating extra ingredient bowls. (there are only two bowls that are needed for the current recipe. Small bowl for marinating garlic in olive oil and a skillet for the pasta.) VERY little to clean up in the kitchen afterward.

Variations Since this is a one skillet dish, I was thinking about adding a 1/2 cup green peas at the end and possible a nut...maybe walnut? Just a thought.