Caprese Chicken Penne Alfredo

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 6 servings
  • Total: 1 hr (includes cooling time)
  • Active: 30 min
Creamy Alfredo pasta meets the freshness of a caprese salad in this one-skillet dinner.
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Ingredients

1 pound penne pasta

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, finely grated

3 cups heavy cream

2 cups finely grated Parmesan

2 cups chopped cooked white meat chicken (from 1 rotisserie chicken)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large red heirloom beefsteak tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 pound fresh salted mozzarella, sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Directions

  1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
  2. Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package directions. (Reserve some pasta water to add back in case the dish needs moisture.)
  3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until very fragrant but not browned, about 1 minute. Add the cream and Parmesan and cook, stirring frequently until the mixture begins to boil, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken and cooked pasta and carefully toss to completely coat, then continue to cook until the mixture is smooth and thick, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the remaining 6 tablespoons butter. Carefully stir until the butter is completely melted and the sauce is glossy and creamy; remove from the heat. 
  4. Alternating 1 slice of tomato and 1 slice of mozzarella, shingle around the outer edge of the skillet creating a ring that covers the pasta. Repeat with the remaining tomato and mozzarella forming smaller concentric rings until the pasta is completely covered. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with some salt and bake until the mozzarella is beginning to melt but the slices still hold their shape and are still white, about 20 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then top with the basil and serve.

Let's Get Cooking!

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Patty B.

This dish is time consuming but turns out awesome everytime. I've made this at least 3 times. In my experience, you will need at least 1 cup heavy cream and min 2% milk to round out the 3 cups total liquid or your final result will be on the thin runny side. You can use pretty much any type pasta, this time made it with one box Barilla spaghetti. I also found the presliced Galbani mozzarella was a huge time saver because it melted very evenly and on time compared to slicing from a wet unstable ball which can result either too thin or too thick slices. 2 (two) 12 ounce packaged of Galbani presliced mozzarella covered this entire dish plus 5 slices leftover. I preboil Costco chicken breast and pasta couple days ahead of time, store in gallon size baggies in my fridge, to help save time on baking day.

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