Chicken Caprese

I had this entree at Olive Garden several years ago and loved it and eventually found it on their website. I've tried to cook lighter in the last year or so to be healthier and while on my weight loss challenge. The original recipe had huge amounts of caloriesso I decided to try and figure out ways to lighten it up. The original recipe calls for using heavy cream which I WAS going to use (why it's pictured) but decided to see if half & half would work - it does!, lots of parmesan cheese - which I cut down and mozzarella which I cut out completely. I think most recipes at restaurants can kill you with the amount of cheese they want to use. This recipe also called for the chicken to be dredged in flour and fried in 1 cup of oil. I lightened it up by grilling it instead using the flavors from the original recipe.

Please note that you'll need to prep and let the tomato mixture sit for at least 1 hour (preferrably more) to marinate. Don't be intimidated by the ingredients, it really is a pretty easy recipe. This serves 6 and made a ton for our family so I will half it next time.

The Stars of the Show:

8-10 Roma tomatoes, cored and cut into 1 inch pieces
Black pepper for seasoning
30 medium basil leaves, julienned
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp of EVOO
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
3 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, divided
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 pound angel hair pasta

Tomatoes:

Core the roma tomatoes and slices into 1 inch pieces. I cut them smaller than that as I like them littler. Make sure your tomatoes are juicy. You could use regular tomatoes too, just make sure you get all the seeds out.

Stack the basil

Roll the basil lengthwise and then cut into strips to julienne them.

Add the tomatoes, basil, 2 tbsp of minced garlic, 1 1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning, 1 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of EVOO in a bowl.

Mix together and set in the fridge for at least 1 hour.


Heat your grill now and start the water boiling for your pasta and cook pasta until al dente and drain and set aside until ready to assemble.


Chicken:

Season the chicken well with S&P and Italian Seasoning. This actually ended up not being enough seasoning for me so season well.

Sauce:

Once you have your chicken grilling start working on the sauce. Heat 1 tbsp of EVOO in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of minced garlic and saute for approx. 1 min. Do not brown. Slowly add 1 tbsp of flour and stir to combine. Add your white wine or chicken stock and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 min.

Remove marinated tomato & basil mixture from refrigerator. Drain tomato mixture and set aside from the liquid. Add 1/2 cup of marinade liquid and saute for approx. 1 min. Add the heavy cream or half & half, lower the heat and bring to a simmer.

Add 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese. If you can afford the calories you can add up to as much as 1 cup of Pamesan cheese.

To assemble everything add the cooked pasta to a bowl and cover with sauce. Add in the tomato mixture. Alternatively spoon a little sauce over the pasta and mix together and then add pasta to your plate, cover with a little more sauce and then pile with the tomato mixture. I mixed everything together this time, but will do the alternative way next time.

Once you take off the chicken from the grill let it rest for about 5 min. to keep the chicken nice and juicy.

Serve the chicken and pasta together. Yum-o!

Chicken Caprese Recipe
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