Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. I'm pretty sure that I have the best dad there is! And my kids are blessed to have a pretty darn good dad also. He does so much for us, it was nice to have a day dedicated especially to spoiling him! 

We wanted to make Father's Day special for my husband this year so my kids and I decided to celebrate with a homemade Italian dinner. Of course, all our recipes came from Pinterest, and fortunately, they all turned out delicious! 

We had Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta, homemade breadsticks, salad with Little Italy Italian dressing, and Italian soda. Delizioso!!

The fun part of this dinner was having most of the kids help with parts of it. Dad got to relax, and they got to feel like they were contributing to his special day.

Here's the recipe we used for the Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta. 

(I increased the amounts of everything and made a really big batch, but I will leave it in original portions, which should feed about six).

                      Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta
            
            Ingredients 

• 2 medium chicken breast halves (about one pound), chopped and grilled
• 9 oz Rigatoni or Penne pasta 
• 2 cups fire roasted tomato pasta sauce (Classico works great)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup finely grated Romano Cheese
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• Red pepper flakes, to taste (optional, for added heat)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, diced into halves or thirds
• 12 oz fresh mozzarella, grated
• 16 fresh Basil leaves, sliced into thin strips

            Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook pasta to al dente according to directions listed on package. 

Meanwhile, in a separate medium saucepan over medium low heat, heat pasta sauce, heavy cream, Romano cheese, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Cook, stirring frequently, until cheese melts.

Drain cooked pasta well, then mix in the chopped chicken, tomatoes, half the cheese, and most of the basil (save some basil to garnish with before serving if desired).

Pour warm sauce over and toss gently to coat. 
Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and cook uncovered for about 25 minutes, until the cheese is golden.

      

I ended up being glad that we made a really huge batch of this because everybody went back for seconds and thirds. It was really so very delicious. 

My husband loved it and appreciated the extra effort we made to serve something he would love for Father's Day dinner!

P.S. We made the breadsticks out of the same recipe we use for our yummy garlic knots (here). Instead of turning the dough into knots, we just rolled it out on a couple of stones and slathered the sauce on before baking it for about 8 minutes (at 500 degrees). These are almost as good as garlic knots, but faster to make!