I love various dishes of pasta, especially with full fat sauces BUT since I try to stay as healthy as I can I like to try to recreate these types of sauces in a lighter (less calorie) way. If I can create a healthy version that still has a lot of flavor I try to mostly make that version whenever I crave a pasta dish.
This is my lighter take on a Chicken Marsala, it’s much lighter but still has a ton of flavor.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces linguine
- 1 lb. chicken breast tenderloins
- 3-4 TBS flour
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3-4 ounces of prosciutto
- 6 ounces mushrooms
- 1 cup Marsala wine
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 TBS butter
- 1/2 cup starch water from pasta water (more if needed)
- 2 handfuls arugula
- 1 TBS fresh chopped parsley
- parmesan (optional)
Directions
Start by boiling your pasta water and cook al dente according to package directions. While you are waiting for the pasta water to boil, prep your chicken and start to make the sauce (it takes about 20 minutes so times perfectly with the time it takes to cook pasta).
In a shallow baking dish, add about 3 TBS flour and heavily pepper the flour and add a little sea salt, mix it in. Lightly dredge the chicken on all sides and set on a plate you will have half the flour left over and you can discard. In a large pan, heat olive oil on high for 2 minutes then turn down to medium and add chicken.
Cook chicken most of the way through and remove from pan and set aside to add back to pan later. Add the prosciutto to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, next add the mushrooms and a little more pepper and sauté till browned about 5 minutes. Add the Marsala wine and turn the pan to high and cook 2 minutes to evaporate some alcohol. Add the chicken broth and continue to cook for another 2 minutes to reduce the sauce.
Stir in the butter and add the chicken back in to finish cooking the rest of the way through and reduce the sauce a little about 5 minutes. Remove about 1 cup of starchy water from the pasta pot. Drain the pasta and add the pasta to the pan and coat in the sauce.
Add about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the pan and continue to stir until all the pasta is coated, add more if needed. Last, add the arugula and the parsley and continue to stir in and coat till the arugula wilts (about 1-2 minutes).
Plate and garnish with Parmesan cheese.
**you can also make this dish with zucchini noodles if you really want to cut the carbs. It’s still very flavorful but I gotta have my carbs so I more often make it the way as written here.
Omg this is so good writing this post has me craving this dish, but we are going on a mini staycation so I’m just cooking things that will spoil tonight. I’m absolutely making when we get back. Enjoy!