Rollin' with leftover Chicken Cacciatore...This time with PASTA!

Pasta, Chicken & Mixed Baby Romaine

Last week I made Chicken Cacciatore - those gorgeous leg/thigh combos I found at Whole Foods. I froze two along with all the leftover sauce (I LOVE doing this - it makes "leftovers" not taste like "leftovers"...removed from the freezer and put it in the fridge last night to defrost.

Slid the contents of the bag into the Le Creuset tonight and warmed it up with a splash of water. Removed the chicken to a separate pot w/lid and added a little of the sauce. Then to the Le Creuset, I added about 6 canned San Marzano tomatoes into the remaining sauce - I squish in to small pieces by hand - this will be used for a pasta sauce - let it cook on low until you're ready to make the pasta.

Heat a pot of water, when it boils I add a large "pinch" of salt. While the sauce simmers, I add a one pound box of DeCecco Penne to the water pot. Set the timer for 9 minutes and give it a stir with a SPIDER (Chinese Strainer) every now and then so it doesn't clump.

Begin heating the chicken so it is warm to plate up as soon as the pasta in done. It can hold on low or simmer.

When the timer beeps, I use the spider to scoop the pasta directly into the sauce and add a ladle of pasta water (the primary reason I DO NOT use a collendar) to the Le Creuset. Stir the pasta - with a wooden spoon, not the spider - and let it absorb the sauce...Add more pasta water if the pasta still needs to cook or the sauce is getting too tight (dry). Turn the heat off, add a pinch of red chile pepper flakes and grated parmigiano reggiano.

Served the chicken and pasta with mixed greens (salt, pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar).