Spicy chicken with a flavourful homemade sauce, bowtie pasta, ricotta, and fresh basil. Can you say yum?!
If you have been following along for sometime I think it is clear that I am a huge fan of pasta, in fact it is something I can throw together on whim and most always have a winner.
My friend at Tucker’s Prepper Company sent over some spices to try and this recipe will feature the Nashville Hot Chicken blend. I find it has the perfect heat with lots of flavor. If you are interested in checking out their products I click the link below to the website. The pricing is great and the product is premium. Some of the best hot sauces I’ve ever had!
CLICK HERE TO ORDER ↓
Ok now let’s talk about this dish! To start I made my Tuscan syle sauce and added 1 1/2 tsp of Nashville Hot Chicken blend with olive oil to loosen it up. IT CAME OUT SO GOOD!
To the sauce goes al dente bow tie pasta, fried chicken breasts (using the same spice blend) but doing a schnitzel style. Very thin, sliced and added to the pot. To cool it down some fresh ricotta and basil. YUMM! I had company over and jaws were on the floor. This dish should be in restaurants!
Look at this beauty, fresh, crunchy, spicy, and so much flavor.
Let’s get this started.
Spicy Chicken Pasta with Ricotta and Basil
Ingredients
SAUCE
- 2 lbs fresh ripe tomatoes
- 2/3 sweet or yellow, onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley
- 7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 6 large basil leaves
- salt to taste
- 1 1/2 tsp Nashville Hot Chicken spice blend website link posted above
- 1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
- 1 cup AP Flour or Gluten free AP flour
- 1 cup ITALIAN bread crumbs
- 2 tsp Nashville hot blend
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp water
- salt and pepper to taste
- vegetable oil for frying
Pasta
- 3/4 box of bow tie pasta, cooked al dente reserve 1/4 cup pasta water
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- fresh basil leaves torn, 3 to for per serving
Instructions
- Start by cutting the tomatoes in half and gently squeezing out the seedsChop, the onion, carrot, celery, and parsley. Put in a medium sized dutch oven or sauce pot.
- Let simmer on LOW for 1 hour, mixing every now and then.
- After 1 hour the veges will be soft and squishable.
- Move to a food mill or food processor. If you are using a food processor, puree and strain to get rid of the mash/tomato skin and seed. Now season with Nashville hot chicken blend, salt, 4 tbsp. olive oil, and the chopped basil. Stir well and set aside.
Chicken
- Half the chicken breasts and smash to a thin strip with a kitchen mallet. Try to make even as possible. Season each breast on both sides with salt and pepper.In a shallow bowl combine the bread crumbs and cheese. Mix.In another bowl pour in the flour, Nashville Hot blend, and oregano. Last bowl combine eggs and water.One piece at a time, dip the chicken in the flour, then egg draining off a bit, and finish in the bread mix. Make sure the bread is covering the breasts well and press to be sure it sticks.Mover to a baking sheet, or plate to rest while you finish coating all the chicken.In a frying pan heat the oil over medium heat. Place as many breasts as can fit into the pan and sauté 8-10 minutes per side. Keep a close eye not to burn. It should be a nice golden brown. I like to cut one open and see if its cooked all the way or use a thermometer. It should read 165° Cooking time varies on size of chicken and pan so just keep an eye on cooking times and know what works for you!After cooked, move to a cutting board to rest. Finish cooking any remaining pieces, adding oil and again if needed. Let them rest for 10 minutes before cutting or serving.
Assembly
- To assemble, cook pasta until al dente, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water. Back to the pasta pot goes the pasta, pasta water, the chicken and all but a couple tablespoons of the sauce. Mix together and serve. Finish off with a couple dollops of ricotta, fresh basil, and some of the reserved pasta.
- ENJOY!
[…] I used their Nashville Hot Chicken blend in my last pasta dish. Check out that post here Spicy Chicken Pasta with Ricotta and Basil […]