Chicken mozzarella pasta with sun-dried tomatoes - Italian-inspired dinner with the best homemade creamy pasta sauce! The sun-dried tomato noodle sauce is made from the ground with basil, pepper flakes, garlic, peppers, cream and shredded mozzarella cheese.
I'm a big fan of pasta, and some of the most popular pasta recipes on this site include this chicken mozzarella pasta you're just reading, creamy chicken pasta with bacon, and pesto chicken noodles. One thing all these pasta recipes have in common is that they use creamy and soothing sauces.
If you want to try chicken noodles that are more refreshing without the creamy sauce, I wholeheartedly recommend family favorite chicken noodles with spinach and tomatoes or spicy stropics Stropic Italian sausage noodles.
Sun-dried tomato noodles with chicken
This recipe includes sun-dried tomatoes and basil. Both ingredients are popular in Italy and the Mediterranean.
The most important taste of this recipe is the homemade sun-dried tomato sauce. The sauce is made from scratch by combining the cream with grated mozzarella cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, basil and pepper flakes.
Cooked chicken and penne pasta are then smothered in this delicious creamy mozzarella sauce. There's enough sauce to coat every bite.
Ingredients for sun-dried tomato sauce
3 garlic cloves
4 sun-dried tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Peppers
Basil
1 cup half and a half (or 1/2 cup slus and 1/2 cup milk)
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 teaspoon pepper flakes
How to make sun-dried tomato sauce
In a large saucepan, cook 3 cloves of chopped garlic and 4 oz of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat for about 1 minute.
Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1/2 cup of milk (or 1 cup half and a half) to the same pan and bring to a boil. Simmer.
Add 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese.
Simmer and stir until cheese melts and forms a creamy pasta sauce.
Add 1 tablespoon dried basil, paprika and at least 1/4 teaspoon pepper flakes. Stir.
Season with about 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
Cooking tips
Use oil-free sun-dried tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a glass). Note: If using sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a glass), be sure to drain the sun-dried oil tomatoes before using them.
Sprinkle a small amount of pepper over the chicken before cooking - it adds flavor as well as the color of the dish.
Be sure to reserve some pasta water as you need to lighten the cream sauce.
Do not hesitate to increase the amount of spices for this recipe: basil, pepper flakes, peppers. This makes the sun-dried tomato sauce even more spicy!
Be sure to season the chicken mozzarella pasta with just the right amount of salt. This means that you may need to add more salt. Salt will enhance the aromas of basil and sun-dried tomatoes.
How to make chicken mozzarella pasta
1) In a large frying pan, sauté garlic and sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil over medium heat. Remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the pan.
2) Season the sliced chicken with salt and paprika.
3) Add chicken to skillet and cook over high heat.
4) Add the sun-dried tomatoes again. Add half and half of the grated mozzarella cheese.
5) Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer and stir the sun-dried tomato sauce until the cheese melts.
6) Add spices: basil, crushed pepper flakes, salt.
7) Add cooked and drained penne pasta and stir to combine.
