.garlic thyme chicken pasta with cream sauce.

I feel that lately we've had a lot of mexican and asian style food in our house the past couple of weeks. I adore pasta, but pasta is no good for my insulin resistent body so I have been trying to not fix/eat it much.

This is a quick dish to make and relatively easy. If I had to give it a star rating, I would give it a 2. From start to finish, it'll take about 45 minutes to make and is super duper delicious.

1. Begin by taking chicken thighs and season with salt and pepper. I used thighs because we like dark meat, but you could use chicken breasts, legs, or whatever your favorite part is.


2. Heat a skillet over medium to medium high heat. When hot, add about 2-3 Tbsp olive oil. You don't need a lot because the fat from the thighs will cook down and add to the pan.


3. Placing the thighs in the pan, skin side down, fry for about 4 minutes per side. We want to sear the chicken so that it will retain all that juicy goodness. When you flip the chicken over, toss in some fresh thyme and crushed garlic cloves to the pan. Spoon the rendered fat over the chicken for a minute then let sear on the other side 4 minutes.


4. Remove from the pan and put in a baking dish. Spoon a little fat over the top, and make sure you put those garlic cloves and thyme on top of each piece of chicken. Pop in a 350* oven to finish cooking through.


5. While the chicken cooks in the oven, begin cooking the pasta. I used linguine, but you can use spaghetti or fettuccine. Linguine takes approx 10 minutes to al dente. When done, dump into a colander and shake off the excess water. Return to the pan.


6. While the pasta is boiling, make the cream sauce. We're going to use the pan we seared the chicken in. Heat the pan back up over medium heat and add a Tablespoon (or two) of olive oil. You'll probably need to dump out the chicken fat first. When the olive oil is heated, saute 1-2 shallots, minced and 2 cloves garlic, minced. Saute for 30 seconds to release the fragrance. You don't want the shallots and garlic to burn so make sure you keep an eye on it. Add 3/4 c. chicken stock and 3/4 c. white wine to deglaze the pan. (Deglaze means to bring up all those delicious cooked bits of chicken that are stuck to the bottom of the pan from the searing) Let reduce just a little bit.


7. Add 1 cup heavy cream, some fresh thyme leaves, a small handful of chopped parsley, and some grated asiago cheese. Stir well and remove the pan from the burner. Taste the sauce. You shouldn't need to add any salt because the cheese is salty. If you want to add some pepper, do so now.


8. Pour over the pasta and toss. Plate the pasta and put a thigh or two on top. Spoon a little bit of that fat that's in the baking dish on top of the chicken and if you want to make it pretty like my picture, put a sprig of thyme and a piece of garlic on top.


9. Enjoy! I served this dish with some roasted asparagus. It paired perfectly with the chicken and pasta.