California Raisin-Confetti Pasta with Chicken

Here’s another one of this dishes that reminds me of mom’s home cooking. My mom made this dish a lot when I was growing up, because we all liked it. Not sure where she got the original recipe…perhaps the San Francisco Chronicle. The dish has olives in it, and since -s claims to not like olives I don’t cook this very often. With -s out of town, I was going through my old recipe cards, came across this one, and new I should make it. It was pretty darn tasty…just as I remember.

You can make this vegetarian by omitting the chicken and adding extra tomatoes, nuts, raisins, and olives.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. pasta
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 lb. chicken breasts, but into bite size pieces
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 c. white wine (you can substitute the stock here if you don’t like/use wine)
• 1 1/2 c. grape tomatoes, chopped
• 1/3 c. raisins
• 1/3 c. nuts
• 1/3 c. olives, chopped
• 1/2 c. parsley, minced

Directions:

1. Get pasta water started, and cook pasta according to directions on the box.
2. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick pan, heat olive oil over high heat. Add chicken, salt, and pepper and saute for 5 minutes; then add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken mixture and put in a bowl and keep warm.
3. Return pan to stove over high heat add the stock, wine, and tomatoes and boil for 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Add raisins, nuts, olives, and parsley, and cook for 2 minutes. Return chicken to pan, toss to coat and heat through. Serve over pasta.

California Raisin-Confetti Pasta with Chicken: