Chicken Florentine Pasta

I am a lover of all things pasta and I am starting to dig pastas without heavy sauces, like this one. What I love is that there are so many flavors that make this so delicious without a sauce. There's different textures and the flavors and textures work together perfectly.

Last year around this time, I had an incident with my 3rd or 4th microwave since I've been married. I was microwaving a stick of butter to soften it up - only for 15 seconds. I turned my back to go back to the stove because in addition to baking something, I was also cooking dinner. Suddenly, the microwave pops loudly and starts this nails-on-the-chalkboard screeching. As I go to stop it, the interior sparks and starts flaming. I stopped it with 5 seconds remaining. This is the point that I just said "Screw it all. No more microwaves." I'm a pretty frugal person. I don't like spending money. This particular microwave was a beast and was a little out of our price range because we wanted one that would last.

Like I said, it's been almost a year and I don't miss our microwave at all. I heat leftovers in the oven or on the stove. I ate the pasta leftovers for 2 days in a row. It got better each time I ate it...and there is something so much better about heating leftover meat without a microwave to make it taste all fake.

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What you need:

• 1 lb. penne, cooked and drained
• Chicken breast, cubed
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. EVOO
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 cup white white (or chicken broth)
• 3/4 cup chicken broth, plus some
• 1 bag baby spinach leaves
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 4 oz. Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat butter and oil over high heat. Saute chicken until crispy and cooked all the way through. Remove and set aside.
2. Turn heat down to medium and add garlic. Stir for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
3. Add white wine and broth; reduce by half. Turn off heat.
4. Add baby spinach and grape tomatoes, along with chicken and pasta; tossing to combine. Use more broth to loosen up, if necessary.

Recipe from Pioneer Woman