Penne Pasta With Chicken, Roasted Butternut Squash, and Kale

Years ago, we ate dinner at Carmine's in Atlantic City and ordered our meal family style. I'll never forget how delicious one of the pasta dishes was! We had pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe in a bowl large enough to feed an army. Growing up in a Jewish home, I never ate things like this before and I was so impressed with the deep flavors in the dish and how the pasta was presented in one bowl with the meat and vegetables. I have been making variations of this dish at home ever since and one of my healthier versions is often made with ground turkey and broccolini and is just as delicious.

Creating a sauté of meat and vegetables in a large pan is a perfect addition for any pasta and the sauté creates a delicious sauce at the same time.  With all the ingredients, your guests will never know the pasta is gluten free! My chicken, butternut squash and kale combination was made using this same technique and the flavors work beautifully together. Note: I usually prefer fresh basil as my herb of choice for any of these pasta and sauté dishes, but I did not have any at home this time. I did have sage leaves left over from Thanksgiving so I used that instead. Sage works well with poultry and with the butternut squash so I do recommend using it here, but feel free to use whatever fresh herbs you happen to have. Delicate, fresh herbs such as basil should be added just before serving.

2 thick skinless, boneless chicken cutlets cut into strips
3 cloves of garlic
Zest of a lemon
Juice of a half a lemon
Olive oil
Kosher Salt and Pepper
2 cups fresh butternut squash, cut into a small dice
1 small onion, diced
6 leaves of fresh sage
Freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups kale, with stems removed and leafs cut coarsely into bite size pieces
1 package GF penne rigate
Grated Parmesan cheese

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pasta pot of water up to a boil on top of the stove.
• In a bowl, mix together a marinade for the chicken with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, grated or crushed garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Coat the chicken pieces with the dressing and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, arrange pieces of butternut squash, onion and sage on a sheet tray. Drizzle it with olive oil and add a pinch of salt and freshly grated nutmeg. Roast in the oven until the butternut squash is tender and golden. (To make sure the squash does not stick to the tray, remove the tray from the oven every 15 minutes or so and move the pieces around and flip them over for even browning.) Do not shut off the oven when it is done. You'll need the sheet tray and the hot oven for the kale.
• Heat a large sauté pan with olive oil. Cook the marinated chicken pieces in one layer until golden on the bottom. Flip pieces over and cook through on other side. Do this in batches if there is too much chicken to cook in one layer.
• Once both the chicken and the butternut squash pieces are browned and tender, drop your pasta into the pot of boiling water. Don't forget to salt the water before adding the pasta.
• Transfer all the butternut squash from the sheet tray into the sauté pan with the chicken and stir to combine. Place a cover over the pan to keep it warm and allow all the flavors to come together.
• Arrange your kale leaves on the sheet tray you cooked the squash on and add a drizzle of a olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast the kale in the oven until crispy.
• When the pasta is almost done... just shy of al dente... Add a ladleful of pasta cooking water into the sauté pan and use your spatula or wooden spoon to scrape up any flavorful bits on the bottom of the pan and create a sauce. Then add the pasta to the sauté pan and stir to combine. Let it sit for a few minutes in the pan.
• Remove the crispy kale from the oven and just before serving, add the kale to the pasta mixture and top with grated cheese if you like.

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