Chicken Florentine Pesto Pasta Recipe

Ingredients

• 12-16 ounces dried short pasta (bowties, penne, gemelli, etc)
• 4 chicken breast cutlets (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds total)
• Salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 yellow or white onion, chopped, about 1 cup
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup  stock
• 8-16 ounces of fresh spinach*, washed, long stems removed and chopped
• Black pepper
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1/4 cup (or more) pesto

*To wash spinach, fill up a clean sink basin with cold water and let the spinach soak in the water. Move it around a bit to loosen any dirt. Fresh spinach is usually pretty dirty, so you may need to do a couple of soakings. Remove the spinach and shake off excess water. Lay the spinach leaves down on a clean towel and pat dry.

Method

1 Bring a large pot of salted water (add enough salt so that the water tastes salty) to a boil. Add the dried pasta and cook until al dente.
2 While preparing the pasta, cook the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and brown the chicken breasts on both sides over medium-high heat. They don't need to be cooked all the way through, just browned. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
3 Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the onions cook, slice the chicken into strips. Put any pieces that are cooked all the way through in one pile, and put the ones that still need a little cooking in another pile.
4 When the onions are just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the  stock and boil vigorously until the liquid is reduced by half.
5 Add the spinach and the undercooked pieces of chicken to the pan. Using tongs, turn them over to coat them with the juices in the pan. Continue to cook, turning and stirring often, until the spinach is wilted and the chicken cooked through, about 2 minutes.
6 Turn off the heat and add some black pepper, the pile of cooked chicken pieces and the pesto. Stir to combine. Drain the pasta put it in a large bowl. Add the cream to the saute pan and stir well to combine. Add the contents of the pan to the bowl with the pasta and mix well. Serve at once.

Tuscan Scrambled Eggs Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 1/4 lb (600g) plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped or 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 6 eggs
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

1 Heat olive oil on medium heat in a nonstick skillet. Add the onions and cook until translucent, just starting to turn golden in color, about 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook over low heat until the liquid evaporates, about 40 minutes.

2 Whisk the eggs in a bowl until well blended. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the tomato and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, and scraping from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat as soon as the eggs begin to set, but are still moist, about 3 minutes. Turn out onto a serving plate. Serve immediately.