A so-called ‘Tuscan’ recipe generally contains sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and parmesan, and a Tuscan pasta like this usually uses plenty of heavy cream. This is a slightly different take on the classic where the heavy cream is replaced with pureed cottage cheese, making it lighter and higher in protein. The fact that cottage cheese is lower in fat than heavy cream means that it needs to be used differently; heavy cream can be simmered at higher temperatures, but cottage cheese will curdle (small white clumps will form) at those temperatures so we need to let the sauce cool a bit before adding it. Other than adding the cottage cheese in a different way, this recipe is pretty much the same as a regular Tuscan pasta recipe. It starts out by cooking (seasoned) chicken and onions before adding garlic, broth, sun-dried tomatoes, and Italian seasoning, before finally adding the cottage cheese, parmesan and spinach.
Creamy Cottage Cheese Tuscan Chicken Pasta
A creamy tuscan style pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, and spinach that swaps the heavy cream for pureed cottage cheese!
ingredients
- 8 ounces pasta (gluten-free for gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (link)
- 1 cup cottage cheese, pureed
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning (link) (or oregano)
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan cheese), grated
- 2 cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon fresh basil, thinly sliced (optional)
directions
- Start cooking the pasta as directed on the package.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the chicken, seasoned with the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the onion and continue to cook until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the broth, Italian seasoning, and sundried tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, wait 5 minutes, mix in the parmesan, cottage cheese, spinach and lemon juice, mix and let the spinach wilt.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix in the basil.
- Add the cooked and drained pasta, mix and enjoy!
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