Wii Eat Healthy Dinner: Penne and Chicken with Spiced Tomato Sauce

Photo Courtesy of CookingLight.com

I found this recipe in Cooking Light back in 2006.  I absolutely love the way this cooks up so quickly…virtually no chopping or prep… and it makes the house smell WONDERFUL when you are cooking it up. Again, I use the meat/soy substitute, Quorn, for chicken in this recipe which lowers the calories/point intake even more.  This recipe says that it is a 4 serving size…but I’ve served 6 adults with it and had leftovers….an incredible amount of food!

Penne and Chicken with Spiced Tomato Sauce

1 tsp. ground fennel seed (I’ve not been able to find this so I use whole and crush it up a little)

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground corriander

1/4 tsp. ground black pepepr

1lb. chicken breast tenders, cut into 1″ pieces OR 1 package Quorn Meat alternative

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

4 cloves minced garlic (I’ve used fresh and pre-packaged…the already minced is much easier)

4 c. canned, diced tomatoes, undrained

1 c. white wine (or white cooking wine)

8 oz. uncooked penne

1/4c. freshly shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/4c. fresh basil, chopped

Directions:

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl and rub over chicken. (If you are using Quorn, you can pour the mixture over the frozen pieces and add to the pan that way.)

Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat and add chicken.  Cook about 4 min, turning once. Set aside.

Reduce heat to medium and add garlic.  Cook roughly 30 seconds, until garlic is soft.  Add tomatoes and wine, scraping bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits (not likely if you use Quorn).  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add chicken and simmer an additional 5 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions omitting salt and fat.  The recipe says to toss pasta and sauce in a bowl and top with basil and cheese right before serving.  I’ve found that you can mix it in the skillet and keep it warm for a bit…making it an easy make ahead or make for company dish.  DO wait until you are ready to serve it to add the basil and the cheese.  Not only does it make a nice appearance when you are serving it but the flavor is amazing.

So what is the nutritional outlay for this dish?

With Chicken, cooking wine and a full Tbsp. olive oil you will have 9 Weight Watcher points per serving, or 446 calories and 7.2g of fat if you have 4 servings.  I will say again that this is MORE than enough for 6 people…at 6 servings the Weight Watchers points  per serving is 6, or 297 calories and 4.8g of fat .

With Quorn as a subsitute for the Chicken, you can also reduce the amount of olive oil that you use…adding a little cooking spray to cook the garlic.  Four servings will be 7 Weight Watchers points per serving.  Six Servings will be 5 points per serving.