Foodie Friday: Capellini with Chicken, Tomatoes and Basil

I stumbled across a Barefoot Contessa episode the other day that caught my attention - usually a pan full of cherry tomatoes will go a long way in catching my attention. She was making Capellini with Tomatoes and Basil. It looked delicious, but knowing my husband I was never going to get away with a "there's no meat in this" dish.

So I set out to make a slightly different version of this that included chicken. I don't always have some of these ingredients on hand and my lack of yard keeps me from growing my own herbs, so I've gotten a bit creative using the items I have on hand.

To recreate, you'll need:
1 1/2 Tbsp. Olive Oil + dash for Cappellini water
Dash of Sea Salt
Dash of Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. of Italian Seasonings
Handful of fresh basil, chopped
2 cups Grilled Chicken Strips
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/4 c. Lime Juice
1 1/2 cups Parmasean/Romano cheese
1/2 lb. Capellini

I start the water boiling for the pasta first, because getting the water to boil always takes so long. Put in a dash of salt and a dash of Olive oil - to season the pasta and keep it from sticking together. Don't put in the pasta until the last minute because it cooks up in a matter of minutes.

If you think ahead, you can soak the chicken strips in the lime juice for flavor. I used the pre-packaged, pre-cooked strips from Costco, but you can also cut up your chicken breast and grill it in the lime juice with a little sea salt.

In a separate skillet over high heat, pour in your olive oil and then layer in your herbs and seasonings (sea salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, fresh basil). The oil helps bring the flavor out of the spices. Just a note here too, I pulled several leaves off of a fresh basil plant, lined them up and cut them into pieces with my scissors. If you like the color of the basil, you can save this until the end, but I like the added flavor of putting them in earlier rather than later.

Once your spices start heating up and smelling good, pop in your chicken with the remaining lime juice and let that cook off for a minute, then add your tomatoes. Once you get that cooking, you might throw that pasta into your pasta water, but be forewarned that it will be ready in 2-3 minutes. Don't forget to give it a stir after you first put it in to allow that oil to do it's job keeping the pasta from globbing together.

Get your pasta bowl ready because it comes together fast from here. Check your pasta to make sure it's done. Drain it and pour it into your big pasta bowl. Pour over your chicken/tomato mix, cover all that with your parmasean/romano mixture and toss it all together.

Viola! Dinner in minutes. Hubby had two helpings and actually ate the leftovers. Miraculous!