This recipe comes via the growing creative culinary talents of Mrs. COBW (Michelle, my lovely and quiet, but not-nearly-as-quiet-since-we-had-children wife). Since I met her and until only recently, Mrs. COBW never expressed more than an ever-so-slight interest in cooking. She would on rare occasions prepare a fine dinner, but expressed no interest or passion in doing so regularly. So our cohabitational chores evolved in such a way that I did the cooking, she did the dishes. This of course has all been mentioned on this blog before.

Over the past few years though, Mrs. COBW has been cooking more and more, and alarmingly, she seems to be taking some pleasure in it. She's preparing my recipes, recipes she finds, and more and more often creating her own. Not so strangely, I have taken no greater interest or passion in doing the dishes and quite frankly I don't see that changing anytime soon.

This is a delicious and great recipe. I'd like Mrs. COBW to tell you herself, but she doesn't like to write or talk to "the people". That's always been my gig.

Pasta and Chicken with Mushroom and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

1-2 lbs. boneless chicken breast
Balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
1 lb. of your favorite pasta
1 Tbs olive oil
1 red pepper (roasted and sliced)
1 large onion (sliced and caramelized*)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 cups portabella mushrooms (chopped)
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 Tbs butter
1/4 cup fresh basil (torn into 1" pieces)
Salt & pepper to taste

Clean and trim the boneless chicken breasts. Lightly pound to tenderize them and then marinate them in the balsamic salad dressing for at least one hour.

Place your pasta pan and water on high heat and prepare your pasta in the normal way. Time your pasta to coincide with the time that the sauce finishes cooking.
 
Remove and drain the chicken from the marinade. Discard the marinade and then grill the chicken breast about 7 to 10 minutes per side. When done, remove from heat and let rest about 10 to 15 minutes before cutting into bite-sized pieces.
 
Place a large skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot add the olive oil. When the oil begins to shimmer add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms give up their moisture (about 5 to 10 minutes).

Add the wine and garlic to the mushrooms and continue cooking until most of the wine has evaporated.
 
Add roasted red pepper, caramelized onions and the red pepper flakes to the mix and stir thoroughly.

Add chicken broth & butter to the sauce, bring to a simmer and continue simmering until thickened.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the pasta with the mushroom and red pepper sauce and most of the torn basil. Garnish with the reserved basil, plate and serve immediately.

*To caramelize the onion, put a small skillet over a low flame. When the skillet is hot, add a little oil and then add the sliced onions. Cook on low, stirring occasionally, until the onions cook down and are well browned yet still moist and sticky. It is important to do this SLOWLY with low heat or the onions will not develop the distinct caramelized flavor and sweetness.