Sunday Night Chicken Dinner, coming in hot!
We’re talking pan-seared chicken smothered in a creamy tomato sauce and served over pasta.
It’s perfect for a chilly February night with the snow falling outside and the wind howling at your door.
In Friends and Strangers, main characters Elisabeth and Sam quickly move beyond their employer-employee relationship and develop an intense friendship, with Sam regularly going over to Elisabeth’s house for Sunday family dinners.
“Sunday dinner” immediately makes me think of family and friends gathering around the table to enjoy a home-cooked meal together.
So many people have an established “family dinner” routine on Sundays, and this book-inspired recipe for Sunday Night Chicken Dinner is exactly the meal you want to serve up for that occasion.
Even though the whole recipe comes together in under an hour, Sunday Night Chicken Dinner makes your kitchen smell like you’ve had a meal bubbling away on the stove for hours. The warm, comforting aroma of tomatoes, garlic, cinnamon, and ginger wafts through your home –
Wait, WHAT?
Yeah. I said cinnamon and ginger. With tomato sauce.
Welcome to why I love Sunday Night Chicken Dinner so much. It’s not your typical Italian tomato sauce (or “gravy,” if you’re of that Sunday dinner crowd) that you’re tossing over the chicken.
This dish has a bunch of spices you’d never expect to find in an Italian, tomato-based dish: cinnamon, coriander, cumin, and ginger.
Oh, let’s add in a splash of balsamic vinegar and a touch of cream, too.
The result is a faintly Indian or Mexican spin on a traditional tomato sauce. And it’s awesome.
The spices infuse the sauce with an unexpected but welcoming warmth, making Sunday Night Chicken Dinner a king among comfort foods. It actually reminds me a lot of my beloved Ziti ala Colucci, but with even more depth of flavor.
You can serve Sunday Night Chicken Dinner without a side, but I think it’s delicious over pasta. I like using big, fat rigatoni to capture all the sauce and sautéed onions.
Place the skillet right on the table and a bowl of pasta alongside, and let everyone tuck in family-style.
A little pecorino romano cheese grated over the top and a side of garlic bread never hurt anybody, either.
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Sunday Night Chicken Dinner
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts,
- 1 medium white onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- a pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 28-oz can chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar**
- 1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 lb short pasta (rigatoni, penne, ziti, etc.)
- chopped fresh parsley (optional)
- grated Pecorino Romano cheese (optional)
Instructions
PREP INSTRUCTIONS
- Slice onion and set aside.
- Salt and pepper chicken to taste. Set aside
- Chop parsley and set aside (optional)
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and set aside. Keep warm.
- While the pasta cooks, make the chicken and sauce: heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then sear on one side until golden-brown, 5-6 minutes. Turn and sear on the other side, 3-4 minutes. Remove seared chicken from skillet and place on a plate to keep warm.
- In the same skillet (do not clean out), lower the heat to medium and add the cumin, coriander, garlic powder, and cinnamon and ginger. Stir into leftover grease and let cook 30-60 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the onions to the skillet, sprinkle with some salt, and stir so the spices coat the onions. Let onions cook down 5-10 minutes until brown and softened, stirring regularly.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and red pepper flakes to the skillet. Stir to combine all ingredients, then let mixture simmer 8-10 minutes to infuse the sauce with the spices.
- Place the seared chicken back into the skillet, along with any juice that’s collected, and nestle the chicken into the sauce. Cover the skillet and let cook another 10-12 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the cover and reduce heat to low. Taste the sauce and add additional seasonings, or salt and pepper, if desired. Gradually stir in the cream, then let simmer another 2-3 minutes until sauce is slightly thickened.
- Serve chicken with sauce immediately over cooked pasta. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and grated pecorino romano cheese if desired.
Ooh, it’s funny how different America and Britain can be, food-wise! When I read Sunday Chicken Dinner, I was expecting a roast chicken and gravy, not pasta and tomato sauce. Yours looks delicious, but I would still have to have gravy with mine, and maybe a Yorkshire pud and roast potatoes… 😅😋
Hi, Nicola! Mmmm, I know exactly what you’re talking about! Sunday Roast is one of my FAVORITE British traditions that I’ve discovered over the years. No one does it over here in the States, not even “Irish pubs.” I feel like it would be incredibly popular, so I’m not quite sure why it’s not on offer. Maybe I should open my own restaurant and offer it. 😉 Every time I’m in England, though, I make sure to be there on a Sunday so I can get Sunday Roast from somewhere, lol. Yorkshire pudding, all the way!
And at Christmas, we really push the boat out and have roast parsnips too… 🤪
Oh, man. I’ve tried parsnips. Not sure I’m on board with that one. LOL.