Yield: 3 to 4 Servings

Scott Nowell

August 2017: Needed to use up some cherry tomatoes. I turned them into an enhancement for a pasta casserole with some chicken and broccoli. Hmm, good.

• 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, whole or cubed
• 6-8oz pasta, penne, rotini, etc.
• olive oil
• 1-2pinches crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper
• 1shallot, minced
• 2cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 3-4cups broccoli florets

Season chicken on both sides with salt, pepper and olive oil.

Set a large pot of water to boil. When it boils, add salt to taste. Add pasta and cook to al dente. Remove water from pasta and set aside. Add broccoli to water and cook for 2-3 minutes until it is mostly cooked. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid. Drain.

Heat a TBS of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat until hot but not smoking.
Add chicken and cook about 4 minutes on each side to brown. Reduce heat to medium and flip until cooked through. 160°F at thickest spot. Remove to cutting board and rest. Slice chicken to bite sized pieces.
If using cubed chicken, cook stirring occasionally until no longer pink in the middle of thickest piece.
Remove chicken from pan. Add another TBS of olive oil, minced shallot, tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Sauté until shallot starts to brown.
Add tomato mixture to pasta pot with drained broccoli. Add chicken and pasta to pot with two TBS of olive oil, season with salt and pepper. You can also add some of the reserved pasta cooking liquid to make it saucier. Mix well until heated through.