This easy recipe is prepared in your slow cooker / crockpot and it is assembled in about 15 minutes and then cooks on its own until you're ready for dinner. The flavor is really quite good as it features a cream sauce that is enhanced with sun dried tomatoes and optional mushrooms and finished with a little spinach.
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| Julian's Tuscan Chicken Breasts Served Over Buttered Noodles |
It can be served with buttered noodles, rice or potatoes. I often place it into the slow cooker just after lunch and let it cook until dinner, reducing temperature to the 'keep warm' setting about halfway through.
I use 2 chicken breast 'halves' as sold at Costco for this, but these are trimmed so they are not overly thick at one end. You can use untrimmed chicken breast, but the thicker side will take longer to cook. Depending on how much your family eats, this could serve 2 adults and 2 children if you have a hearty salad or appetizer first. The recipe is easily doubled if you are serving more or have adults who can eat a full chicken breast half. Do still cut them as they will cook more evenly and fit better into the slow cooker for stirring. I'm using curly egg noodles to serve with this as they soak up the sauce nicely.
Ingredients
2 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless
pinch of salt
a few grinds of fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
(Note: you can substitute premixed Italian seasoning for the oregano and basil)
(Note: you can substitute premixed Italian seasoning for the oregano and basil)
Sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
a few grinds of fresh black pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped or smile slices
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced or quartered
1-2 cups fresh spinach, leaves only
Instructions
Turn the slow cooker to high with the lid on to pre-heat.
Rinse the chicken breasts and pat dry. Cut each breast piece in half again so in all you now have 4 pieces of chicken. Combine the dry seasoning ingredients and sprinkle on all sides of the chicken.
Sauce: In a bowl, combine the cream, chicken stock, garlic, cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Stir in the cheese and sun dried tomatoes.
Reduce the slow cooker setting to low and place the seasoned chicken into the slow cooker. Pour the sauce over top and gently stir to coat the chicken all around. Cook stirring occasionally until the chicken's internal temperature is at least 165ºF, about 2.5 hours. About an hour before your planned meal, stir the sauce again and check for thickness. If the sauce is not thick enough, set the slow cooker lid offset to permit some of the moisture to escape while it finishes cooking. (If you're not quite ready to serve, you can set the temperature to 'keep warm' and close the lid until you are ready to serve.)
Just prior to serving, remove the chicken pieces from the slow cooker and stir in the spinach. Plate and top the chicken with extra sauce.
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