Mediterranean Chicken Pasta. Dancing Around To Cheers Elephant.

Q: Why does a chicken coop have two doors?
A: Because if had four doors it would be a chicken sedan.

Sorry for that, my friends. After years of providing you with groan inducing jokes, there seems to be slim pickings left, especially in the chicken department.

To make it up to you, here is a swoon inducing chicken pasta dish.

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta is packed with lots of goodies such as feta, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and pine nuts. What sets this recipe apart from your usual Med-style dish is the dreamy garlic wine sauce that gives it an additional punch of flavor.

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast tenderloins
Greek seasoning (I used Italian…it’s Mediterranean enough for me)
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbs chopped shallots
6 Tbs sun dried tomatoes in oil
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 Tbs corn starch
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
6 Tbs butter
2 cups baby spinach
1 lb cooked penne pasta, al dente (I used casareccia, just for a change)
Sea salt and black pepper
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
Sliced black olives, to garnish (I used Kalamata)

Directions:

1. Make the garlic wine sauce. In a sauce pan, heat 2 Tbs olive oil and sauté half the garlic and half the shallots until golden. Add the white wine and bring to a boil, then reduce by half, stirring frequently. (The sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until needed.)

2. Season the chicken breast tenderloins with Greek seasoning. Sauté chicken in 2 Tbs butter and 2 Tbs olive oil over medium high heat until golden on both sides, but not quite cooked through.

3. Add remaining garlic and shallots to the pan with the chicken. Stir in sun dried tomatoes and about half of the garlic wine sauce. Add in the remaining butter and half of the feta cheese. Stir in spinach and drained noodles and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.