Creamy Chicken Sauce for Pasta

This sauce is colorful, rich in flavors, and medium-rich in texture.  It will go on any pasta from angel hair to large tubes.  This recipe makes enough to sauce about 3/4 lb. of cooked pasta.

It serves 2-3 as a main course and 4 as a pasta course.
Ingredients

• ~ 3 oz. extra virgin olive oil, more to finish
• ~ 2 oz. Parma or serrano ham, sliced thinly and cut into slender strips
• ~ 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• ~ 1/2 large green pepper, finely diced
• ~ 10 grape tomatoes, sliced into quarters
• ~ 2 T. garlic, minced
• ~ 1/2 t. kosher or sea salt
• ~ 1 t. ground black pepper
• ~ 1 t. nutmeg
• ~ 1 t. oregano
• ~ 1/2 t. rosemary
• ~ 2 t. unbleached flour
• ~ 4 oz. light cream
• ~ 4 oz. water
• 1 roasted chicken breast half, without skin and bone, shredded

 Preparation

Place about 3 oz. olive oil in medium saute pan.  Saute ham on medium heat for about 1 minute.  Add onion and green pepper and saute until softened.  Add salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary, and nutmeg.  Stir thoroughly.

Add garlic and tomatoes.  Saute for about 2 minutes, being careful not to brown the garlic.  Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, stir in thoroughly and cook gently for a minute so that flour loses its raw flavor.  All at once, add the light cream and the water, stirring over heat until the sauce thickens.  Adjust the thickness with water or white wine until it will coat the pasta evenly and thinly.  Sprinkle liberally with additional olive oil.  Adjust the spices and serve.

Serving hints:

• Pair this dish with either a luscious sauvignon blanc or any well-balanced red wine.
• Substitute dry white wine for any or all of the water used to thin the sauce at the end.
• Double or triple the recipe and use it as a sauce in a lasagna.