Honey Balsamic Chicken and Pasta

YUM!

I took a recipe and then altered it to make it a pasta dish. Cuz I LOVE pasta. No I think I'm obsessed. ;) Plus I know my kids will eat it if it has pasta in it. I also love sweet and savory dishes. There is just nothing better in life!

So here is my recipe:

1 sweet onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic minced or pressed (I have that handy dandy Pampered Chef garlic press. LOVE IT)

Olive Oil

3 tsp brown sugar

3 heaping Tablespoons of honey

3 heaping Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 pound penne pasta

1 pound chicken (I used tenderloins)

Options: mushrooms, flat leaf parsley chopped, and fresh grated parmesean...maybe lemon.

So I put some extra virgin olive oil in the bottom of my skillet. (I have an awesome big skillet with high sides that I cook just about everything in. So use your biggest skillet) Then I dropped the onion into and sauted over medium heat. After they sweat for 2 minutes or so I added the brown sugar to caramelize the onion. I boiled my pasta at this time too. After 5 minutes of caramilizing I added the garlic. While that caramelized some more I cut up my chicken in bite sized pieces and then added them to the onions and garlic. When the chicken was almost cooked through I added the honey and the balsamic vinegar. It was at this point that I wished I had some mushrooms to add to this. Because that would be so awesome and delicious! I didn't like mushroom as a kid, but now as an adult, I love them. So I reduced the balsamic and honey by about half so it was syrup like (About 6-7 minutes) on medium heat. I drained my penne pasta and added a bit of olive oil to the pasta while it sat for flavor and so the pasta wouldn't stick together too much. Second to last I added the heavy cream (I eyeballed it but it was about 1/2 cup). Then let it come to a boil and thicken a bit (3-4 minutes). Last I added the pasta and mixed well and turned the heat to low/simmer. I let it simmer covered for about 2 minutes. It was also at this point that I wish I had some parmesean cheese and fresh flat leaf parsley too. (I would have made it to the store for mushrooms, parsley and parmesean but there was a freakish blizzard today. And I live on a mountain...so it is 10 times worse!) Next time :)

It is DIVINE I tell you! It is also really fun to create your own recipes. Enjoy!

P.S. If you think this is too sweet, then forget the brown sugar when you make it. But balsamic vinegar is naturally pretty sweet. Just FYI. Also I think next time I'll add something to help cut the sweetness a little. Maybe a little lemon?