This Blistered Tomato Pasta with Chicken is simple yet packed with complex flavors.  It’s perfect for a weeknight or a dinner for guests.

I think my creative flow is at a standstill today.  It’s understandable.  I feel crappy.  As if this month of fiscal year close couldn’t get any worse.  Seriously.  We have half the staff we should have on any normal work week.  And we lost another one this week.  So, we’re below half of the staff we need.  As if this wasn’t bad enough…I am sick.

*insert horror movie music and screams*

No, seriously!  It was a planned outage on Wednesday.  I was resting up in hopes of nipping whatever this is before I got back to work on Thursday.  But, Thursday I woke up, coughed up a lung, and then couldn’t breathe.  Consequently, I did not go in to work.  The hubs took me to urgent care to make sure it wasn’t bronchitis, which I’m prone to getting.  I’m not kidding.  I have had it 7 times in 5 years for a total of about 10 times in the last 20 years.

No antibiotics, which is okay.  I’ve probably been prescribed more than my fair share and some of them just don’t work anymore.  But, they did prescribe me an inhaler.  So, there we stood in Walmart waiting for the cluster that is sending the escrip to the wrong store, the correct store trying to fill the escrip they got, and the insurance company thinking I’ve filled two in the last hour.  That was an hour and half of my life I’d like to get back.

My phone blew up.  You see, when you telework you forward your calls to your phone so you can pretend like you’re working regularly.  I refused about 4 calls because there’s no way I could intelligently answer work related questions standing in a Walmart.  They finally got the hint and stopped calling. 

When I got back to the house, I logged in to check email and sure enough there were a few from one person saying they were trying to call but it was acting weird.  To which I responded with, “That’s because the calls were forwarded to my cell and I was standing in Walmart trying to fill an escrip from urgent care.”

To which they responded with a hilarious email about me being out of the office sick which is a rare occasion for sure.  I got an email with a pic of a horrified couple of program analysts.  They sent me a picture of hell freezing over.  It was very funny and made my day.  Those two are too freaking funny!

I know.  This has nothing to do with this recipe.  This recipe which has been in the works for a couple of months.  Ever since I made these pan roasted tomatoes and these blistered tomatoes, and I’ve been seeing lots of other recipes for blistered tomatoes, I’ve been wanting to make this dish.  Granted, it was going to have grilled chicken, but I changed my mind and sautéed the chicken with the tomatoes for a richer flavored sauce.  And it is definitely flavorful!

See what I mean?  The chunks of chicken, the burst tomatoes, the hearty pasta.  This is one of those meals that whip up in no time but tastes fabulous.  It’s super light and perfect for a summer weeknight meal.  You’re not in the kitchen all that long.  The stove is only on long enough to cook the pasta.  There’s very little prep work.  It’s really one of those go to meals in the heat of summer when you’re dog tired and have no energy to make anything else.  Serve this up with a chopped wedge salad and you’re good to go!

Now, for those that aren’t familiar with the power of the pasta water, then let me skool ya!  Pasta water is a great thickener to any sauce.  It makes for a silky smooth carbonara, it helps a Bolognese stick to the pasta, and in this case, it makes for a creamy and smooth sauce that might have otherwise been a bit acidic from the tomatoes.  It contains starch from the pasta which is magic to any pasta and sauce.  So, don’t just discard that water.  Add a little to the sauce when you make some pasta next time and you’ll see what I mean.

Seriously.  See what I mean?  See how that sauce just hugs the pan like that?  That’s from the little bit of pasta water added to the pan while simmering.  I know it’s going to look like too much, but just let it simmer.  That starch will thicken as the water evaporate which manes those tomatoes and sauce just taste amazing.  You can’t tell me looking at that pan makes you want to dig in!!  Because I do!!  Where’s my bread??

Serve this up with a nice garlic bread or even a bruschetta bread that’s just brushed with a clove of garlic and a nice salad.  You’ll have a delicious and super-fast meal on the table in no time flat.  It’ll have the taste of summer with those tomatoes and not heat you up like summer.

Have you ever used pasta water in your sauce?