Guys, this dish amazes me every time I cook it. It is incredibly simple, and yet in my estimation will beat anything you find at Olive Garden.

This would work well at a deer camp with about half a dozen hungry men. Otherwise it makes a bunch. It freezes well, too!

Tuscan Chicken Pasta

Ingredients
• 12 oz. spaghetti or angel hair pasta
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
• kosher salt
• Lemon pepper
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 toes garlic, minced
• 1-1/2 Tsp. capers
• 2 c. diced fresh tomatoes (I used Romas, but sun dried would work well also…)
• 3 c. baby spinach
• One large lemon
• One cup dry white wine (I used Barefoot Pinot Grigio)
• ~2/3 c. heavy cream
• 3/4 c. grated Italian cheese blend
• 3-4 chopped Basil leaves
Directions
1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook spaghetti or angel hair pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside, leaving pasta in original pot, lid on. (You may add a tbsp. of olive oil if desired, to eliminate sticking.)
2. In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and drain.
3. Season chicken with kosher salt and lemon pepper and cook until cooked through, 8-9 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and slice into strips.
4. Pour off half the bacon fat and to skillet add garlic, tomatoes, spinach, juice of lemon, capers, and wine and season with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally. When spinach is semi-wilted, add heavy cream and let simmer to thicken. If sauce is thin, add 1 tsp of corn starch or flour to thicken as desired.
5. Add chicken, allow to simmer to heat chicken, then pour over pasta. Crumble bacon; add bacon and cheese and toss, then garnish with basil and serve.

I'm borrowing this!

I always get involved in trying to think of the original Italian version. May I please ?
Angel hair seems to tangle very easily but you could use spaghettini .They might use their pork belly - pancetta.. Or you could use prosciutto .As for spinach it's not native to Italy.Somehow spinach has become identified with the fine Tuscan city of Florence so if you see an Italian recipe with the term Florentine it indicates that it has spinach. As part of the flavorings in a dish the Italians would rarely use so much meat as 6 slices of bacon.
But get in the kitchen and play around like Taz

Mete, I am about as far from a traditionalist as it can get. I just found the recipe on the net and tried it. It was okay, but a bit bland. (They said to use half a cup of pasta water to help blanch the spinach, for instance.) So I played with it. I added the wine, the lemon juice, the capers, and the lemon pepper. I thought it helped it quite a bit.

And one aside: I actually cooked it once and left out the spinach. It was still remarkably good.

One thing I want to eventually do is experiment with shrimp instead of chicken; just haven't figured out what to do about spicing the shrimp just yet.

quote:

One thing I want to eventually do is experiment with shrimp instead of chicken; just haven't figured out what to do about spicing the shrimp just yet.

Salt, pepper, lemon - maybe a bit of crushed red pepper flake.

Shrimp ? Stay away from restaurants that serve "Shrimp Scampi "indicates a poor place to eat ! The two are similar creatures recipies are interchangeable.
If you have those small cherry tomatoes ,quarter them and quickly cook them ,adding to sauce .Instead of lemon juice, slice off the lemon skin forjust the outside were the lemon oil [and real lemon flavor ] is .Chop the skin into very small pieces ,like grains of salt if you like, if you are a good knife guy [are you reading this Mr Fisk ? ] Now chop parsley, fine ,and add lemon and parsley at the end of the cooking for a few minutes .

Made this with shrimp last night. It's a keeper. It was the day before grocery shopping and had to do without capers and spinach. (the lemon really brightens up the flavor). Will have to try it with chicken and spinach next time.

On a separate note, is Morton's Hot Salt still available? (Salt and finely ground red pepper blend) I used that to season everything from eggs to soup. Haven't seen it for some time locally.