Sundried Tomato, Chicken and Garlic One-Pot Pasta

Sundried Tomato, Chicken and Garlic Pasta is a flavorful, bright one-pot pasta with the sweetness of sundried tomatoes and pungent earthiness of garlic.

Sundried tomatoes were the darling of the 80s and 90s. They were on the menus of restaurants all over. Used as a garnish, an ingredient and a flavor booster, this Mediterranean food provided the best of tomato flavor in the months when finding a tasty tomato (ie: right now) is near impossible.

It’s probably no surprise, then, that they featured in the Friends cookbook, one of many created in the 90s based on hit shows. A recipe in that cookbook for sundried tomato pasta became my first signature dish. I made it for dinner parties and special occasions. My friends raved over it, in all it’s sundried tomato, garlic, basil glory.

Maybe they were just being nice, but to a college kid who couldn’t cook and hadn’t taken home-ec, it was enough to encourage me to make it again and again.

This recipe, from my latest cookbook One-Pot Pasta, pays homage to that memory. It’s a more sophisticated (and yet still simple, quick and easy) version of the dish I made over and over again in the late 90s and early 2000s.

And while chefs may not eschew this ingredient as passe, I still love sundried tomatoes. Well, as long as they are good sundried tomatoes. Bad sundried tomatoes — ones that are coated in salt (just no), for instance — are b-a-d.

I’ve always preferred dried ones not packed in oil (though after reading the article in Taste, I might be persuaded to try the oil-packed ones again). Be sure, when you purchase, you buy imported ones from Italy, which are made the classical way: by actually being dried in the sun. Dehydrated tomatoes sold domestically as sundried tomatoes just aren’t the same.

To make this one-pot pasta, start by cooking the chicken. You’ll toss it with flour and then brown it in butter. Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the pan.

Then add the pasta, water, white wine, garlic and sundried tomatoes to the pot. Cook it all together until the pasta is tender — that takes 12 to 14 minutes.

Then mix the chicken and fresh basil in.

This is delightful as-is, but you could also add a sprinkling of parmesan or romano, if you like.

This flavorful, bright one-pot pasta with the warm, sweetness of sundried tomatoes and pungent earthiness of garlic is perfect for enjoying with dinner guests — or just the family. It’s also a lovely make-ahead meal that reheats well.

This recipe comes from my cookbook One-Pot Pasta, published by Rockridge Press. One-Pot Pasta is available where books are sold including indie bookstores. Signed copies are available from The Briar Patch in Bangor, Maine.

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Calling All Pasta Lovers! My Newest Cookbook is the One-Pot Pasta Cookbook!