Pasta served with a bounty of chicken, zucchini, & sweet bell peppers, sautéed in white wine and coated in a creamy Parma Rosa sauce and topped with grated Parmesan. It’s a no-fail, one-pot dish that’s perfect for utilizing those fresh vegetables from your garden or the Farmer’s Market. Or, you can even add frozen vegetables, if preferred.
Nothing Can Be Sadder Than a Glass of Wine Alone
While I beg to differ with this particular lyric (one of my favorite things to do is to have a glass of wine alone on my back porch with my music or true crime podcast playing), I do adore this song. On tonight’s Kitchen Playlist: “Cry to Me,” by Solomon Burke. Regardless of its relatively-recent tiktok challenge fame, this song has been a constant favorite for my mom and myself for as long as I can remember.
Soulful, dance-inducing songs like this one are perfect to listen to while you’re in the kitchen. Singing and slow-dancing along (even with yourself) makes every dish more fun to make. Since this is one of my mom’s favorite songs, too, and because she was the one to teach me how to make Chicken & Zucchini Parma Rosa Pasta, it seemed fitting to feature this 60s hit on tonight’s Kitchen Playlist.
Get Sauced
We’ve discussed before the importance of utilizing drinking wine versus cooking wine in dishes here on Sauced. To read more about my diatribe in that matter, check out my post for Chicken Bacon Wine Skillet. I have included the link below. The main takeaway is this: “Cooking wine” is loaded with preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and salt, which can affect the taste of your dish. Plus, you can’t drink it. What a waste. Therefore, it is a far superior strategy to utilize drinking wine in any dish that calls for wine.
In this particular recipe for Chicken & Zucchini Parma Rosa Pasta, you can use any white wine varietal, including, but not limited to, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Moscato, or Sauvignon Blanc.
Get More Sauced
If you follow me on social media, you know that we are celebrating Zucchini Week Part Deux this week. You can find a plethora of delicious recipes featuring this versatile veggie on Sauced. Choose the Blog option from the Sauced homepage and search with the keyword: “Zucchini,” to view a complete list of zucchini-filled dinners, sides, & even dessert! I have included the direct links to some of my favorites below.
Chicken & Zucchini Parma Rosa Pasta
Ingredients
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts trimmed and chopped into bitesize bits
- 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- 1 box rigatoni or penne pasta cooked according to package directions & drained
- 1 packet Knorr's Parma Rosa Sauce mix
- 1 Tbsp butter salted or unsalted
- 1 1/2 c heavy cream
- 1/2 c yellow or white onion diced
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 medium-size zucchini thinly sliced and halved
- 2 sweet bell peppers (yellow, red, and/or green) diced
- 1/2 c green onions diced
- 1 c white wine of your choosing, divided
- 1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
- 2 tsp garlic powder, divided
- 1 tsp onion powder, divided
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, divided
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat EVOO in a large non-stick skillet or pot over medium heat. Hot Tip: I often use the same pot I boiled the pasta in, to cut down on dishes. I simply leave the cooked pasta in a colander with a little EVOO drizzled over it while I cook the remainder of the dish.
- Add the minced garlic to the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Then, add the chicken and season with 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika, and salt and pepper, to taste.
- Continue cooking the chicken over medium heat, turning often, for 15-20 minutes (or until the chicken is completely cooked through).
- While the chicken is cooking, you can prepare the vegetables. Add all chopped veggies to a large bowl and season with the remaining 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp. dried thyme, and salt and pepper, to taste. Pour 1/2 c. of white wine over the vegetables and allow to marinade for at least 5-10 minutes.
- Once the chicken is fully-cooked, add the remaining 1/2 c. of white wine to the pot and increase heat to medium-high. Allow the chicken, garlic, and wine to simmer for at least 5-10 minutes, until nearly all of the wine evaporates and the chicken begins to brown.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the vegetables, spices, and wine to the pot and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes more, until the vegetables are tender. Remove from heat.
- While the vegetables cook, you can prepare the Knorr's Parma Rosa sauce according to packet directions, substituting the heavy cream for the milk. Remove from heat and add 1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese, whisking to ensure it is fully incorporated into the sauce.
- Add the prepared sauce to the pot with the chicken and vegetables. Then, add as many noodles as needed, stirring gently to coat. (I often find that I boil too many noodles, so I add them a little bit at a time, to ensure that the end result is not too dry.)
- Garnish with shredded Parmesan and serve immediately. Enjoy with a glass (or the rest of the bottle) of the white wine you cooked this dish with!
