GOOD FOOD ALERT — James’ Pasta

Alright folks — enough waiting. It’s time to get to the good stuff. FOOD! But not just any food. Homemade goodness. I want to share one of my all-time favorite dishes — it’s super easy, and it’ll make your kitchen smell like a foretaste of heaven divine.

But first, some backstory.

I used to be the pickiest eater on the planet. During my elementary (home)school days, my diet basically consisted of BP&J sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers and Kraft mac & cheese. Oh, and pizza.

I was perfectly content with the good stuff and tried to avoid icky vegetables and lesser foods at all costs. My mom swears that I once yelled in my toddler voice at my grandmother who sweetly made a delicious soup from scratch:

“NO HOOP!!!!!!!”

Thankfully I’ve come a long way since those dark days (another story for another time), but it took me a while to actually start making my own food — and making it well. I’ve always loved food, but it took an extra something to get me acquainted with my own kitchen: homesickness.

It was junior year at Texas A&M University WHOOP! and I was missing my mom’s amazing home-cooked meals. My mom’s cooking has just gotten better and better with each passing year (she’s amazing!), and somehow she got a particular pasta recipe from a friend at our church. It was this relatively simple pasta dish, but the aroma that filled my mother’s kitchen whenever she cooked it…OH MY GOODNESS.

Does technology exist yet to share smells over the internet? Someone should get on that.

It’s one of those things where about 5–7 minutes into making the sauce, you think it can’t smell any better. …then you add wine. And you’re on Cloud 9.

I missed it so much, so I decided one day to make it myself. It took a few tries to really get it down, but I eventually mastered it. So let me take you there:

Pasta con pollo, pomodoro, y basilica.

Or, as my family took to calling it in honor of this mystery family friend who I’ve never met: James’ Pasta.

Cherry Tomatoes (one whole container. cut each in half)

Garlic (minced. I like to go crazy and use about 5 cloves)

Crushed red pepper flakes (vary depending on how spicy you want it)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (mmmmm)

White Wine (do NOT get cooking wine or the cheapo stuff. Be good to yourself and avoid a stomach ache. Speaking from personal experience here. Try cooking with wine you enjoy drinking — I don’t drink white wine often, but I like Sauvignon blanc)

Chicken breast (2, boneless, cut up into bite-size chunks)

Fresh Basil (minced)

Butter (James would be ashamed of me. I’m lactose intolerant so I have to go off-script and use the fake stuff. Personal preference — don’t go overboard with butter or milk. You don’t want to overpower the olive oil/tomato/wine combination! I’d recommend 1 tspn at most)

Milk (I normally use 2% lactose free milk and it works great. No more than 5 tablespoons — again, you don’t want the dairy to overpower the other elements of the sauce. The original recipe calls for heavy cream…which my stomach won’t allow me to enjoy anymore, but I must say it’s pretty awesome)

Pasta (Farfalle. No ifs, ands, or buts. This is your “bowtie” pasta, and no other variety will do. I had a roommate from grad school that got me into multigrain pasta, so I’ve been using that lately. Not bad at all!)

Ok. Here’s what lies between you and heavenly bliss.

Step 1. Pour yourself a glass of wine.

Because cooking with wine is the absolute best! I love cooking with wine because it enhances an activity that’s already so relaxing and calming!

Ok, step 1 for real this time.

1. dice 5 garlic cloves and cut all cherry tomatoes in half. [smell the garlic. what was God thinking when He created it? I have to believe He was thinking of us — knowing how much joy we’d get from this simple, scrumptious onion. every good and perfect gift…] place them in a large sauce pan with enough olive oil to cover the base of the pan and then some. put on medium heat
2. let the juice from the tomatoes seep into the sauce. stir occasionally to make sure the garlic cloves don’t burn [this is when things start to smell amazing]
3. after 5–7 minutes, add in the chicken breasts (cut them up into bite-sizes). they’ll cook directly in the sauce
4. once you can tell that the chicken is cooked on the outside, add white wine to the sauce. I eyeball it — about 200 milliliters
5. after letting the wine cook into the sauce for about 5–7 minutes, add in about 2 1/2 tablespoons of butter and about 5 “splashes” of milk. you can add more if you want a creamier sauce, but don’t add too much or you’ll take away from the olive oil/wine flavor
6. after the dairy products cook into the sauce, add as much fresh basil as you want! it’ll add a wonderful flavor, so don’t hold back
7. throughout this whole process, add crushed red pepper flakes and salt as you want/need (confession: I love how salt accentuates the flavors surrounding it, so I like to add a lot of salt)

I usually start cooking the pasta once I put the chicken in the sauce. once the sauce is done and the pasta is strained, just pour the sauce directly onto the pasta and serve from there!

It’s so wonderful! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do — let me know if you end up using this recipe! You’ll have to tell me at which point of the cooking you think it smells best. Honestly, I think my favorite part is at the very beginning when the tomato juices and garlic start to mix with the simmering olive oil…I wish I had a word in the English language to capture that rapturous scent.

Some things are better smelled than spoken. :)