Gruyere Cheese Pasta

 

1 chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces (marinated in olive oil, s & p, thyme, cayenne pepper and some garlic)
1/2 a tomato, cut into wedges
1/2 a white/spanish onion, chopped
3 mushrooms, sliced (I used white, Crimini would work)  
1 large clove of garlic
White wine, Chicken Stock and Cream (I use whipped)
1-2 fresh basil leaves, chopped
5 slices of gruyere cheese (or you can grate it which I thought of afterwards)
A handful of spinach and arugula
Fresh parmesan


     Oh my goodness. This was delicious. I will quote my housemate who after taking a bite said "You should probably drop out of school and just cook". While sitting in class today, clearly paying attention, I was thinking about what I might make for dinner. Ingredients were floating through my head and in my mind I had just created the most delicious sounding pasta that I had to try and make. I texted my sister, my go-to when I have cooking questions, with a list of ingredients I wanted to use and she gave me her approval for the meal. So happy it turned out well!
     First fry up the chicken in a pan with some olive oil, allowing it to brown. Remove and set aside. Toss in the tomatoes for about 30 seconds per side. I have no idea if this accomplished anything, I just felt like doing it. Put the tomatoes with the chicken. Next in the same pan put in the onions and mushrooms with a little butter and more oil (if needed). Allow the mushrooms to get a little brown. Toss in the garlic and mix around for about 1 minute. You wait to add the garlic so that it doesn't burn while the onions and mushrooms are cooking. Pour in white wine. I did enough to cover the onions and mushrooms in the pan. Allow that to simmer for a bit. Add the chicken stock. I used probably half a cup, even though I had a cup to use. Let that simmer. Toss in cream, only a little! You don't want it to be the focus of the sauce. After you let that simmer for a bit toss in the fresh basil and add the chicken and tomatoes back in. Stir and add in the gruyere cheese. Once the cheese has melted, toss in whatever pasta you are using and let it mix around with the sauce. Put the pasta onto a plate or in a bowl and add a handful of arugula and spinach (you can do one or the other, but I had both!). Mix it up so all the arugula/spinach is not on the top. I didn't put the arugula/spinach directly in the pasta sauce because I didn't want it to welt in the heat of the sauce. I wanted it to still be rather "fresh". Shave some fresh parmesan on top and voilà! Gruyere Cheese Pasta!