When you need a comforting family dinner that wraps you up in warmth, then this fabulous Rotisserie Chicken Pasta has to be top of the list!
Tender chicken, a rich, savory sauce, with pops of sweet raisins, woody rosemary, and creamy pine nuts - this is seriously something different and delicious!
It is a dish inspired by the flavors of Venice. Savory and sweet, combined with fresh herbs and pasta. Plus, using a rotisserie chicken, you can have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes!
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What is Venetian Chicken Pasta?
Venetian Chicken Pasta is thick pasta ribbons, coated with a meaty chicken sauce that is flavored with rosemary and sweetened with raisins (golden raisins are even better)
Being a Venetian chicken pasta dish, you expect big, bold flavors, and this doesn't disappoint. The savory sauce is bursting with rich, unctuous chicken flavors, but there is no need to cook a chicken as you can use your local grocery store rotisserie chicken!
If you want to roast a chicken or have some leftover chicken, then this recipe is fantastic for using them up, but for a regular mid-week meal, a store-bought rotisserie chicken and a few short cuts will still give you a delicious dinner. The recipe below is for a store-bought chicken, but check the notes for adapting this recipe.
We love rotisserie chicken!
Don't rotisserie chickens smell so good! When I'm in the grocery store, even when I am planning something else for dinner, I see them come out of the big ovens, get a waft of the delicious roasted smell, and I instantly change my menu plans!
A cooked chicken, a fresh french baguette, some slaw and maybe a container of mini tomatoes, and my easy dinner is ready! Some times if the weather is cold, I'll whip up some of my brown gravy, and we'll dip our bread and chicken into the gravy!
BUT for another way to use that chicken, I turn to this Venitian Chicken Pasta. (or my Creamy Chicken Gnocchi)
Getting chicken flavor without the cooking juices.
So we know that when you roast a chicken, the collection of drippings and juice at the bottom of the roasting tin are liquid gold. But sometimes we need a short cut! I have a 45-minute roast chicken recipe on the blog, but some night even that is too much!
A rotisserie chicken is a perfect shortcut! When you buy a rotisserie chicken if any juice/jelly has collected in the bottom of the container/bag, reserve that. It will be packed with flavor and also gelatin that will help to thicken the sauce.
To get more chicken flavors, we are going to use chicken better than bouillon or a chicken bouillon cube. This chicken bouillon gets melted into butter, giving you an intense base that can replace the missing drippings and juices.
This flavor-packed chicken base is then mixed with some of the pasta cooking water, and this recreates the wonderful juices you get from a roast chicken and makes a delicious savory sauce for your pasta ribbons.
Serving Suggestions:
Side: The roast chicken juices in this pasta make it perfect for serving with a slice of ciabatta to soak up any remaining sauce. The pasta is quite rich, so I like to add a crisp green salad as well as some rustic bread.
Wine: The sweet raisins in this dish and the deeply savory chicken make it an interesting meal to pair wine with, we like the slightly unusual pairing of a Viognier. The complex flavors balance the sweetness and umami elements in this chicken pasta.
For red wine lovers, a pinot noir would be a great choice.
Enjoy x
For more chicken pasta recipes why not try:
- Creamy Tomato Chicken and Chorizo Pasta
- One Pot Chicken Meatball Orzo
- Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta
- Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Cajun Chicken and Sausage Pasta
- Garlic Butter Pasta with Garlic Chicken
- See ALL 60+ Pasta Recipes
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Venetian Chicken Pasta (Rotisserie Chicken Pasta)
Ingredients
- 1 rotisserie chicken -see note 1
- 12 oz pappardelle - see note 2
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon chicken better than bouillon or 2 chicken bouillon cubes -see note 3
- 3 rosemary sprigs
- ⅓ cup raisins -see note 4
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Strip the meat from the rotisserie chicken and set it to one side.
- If any juice has collected in the rotisserie chicken packet, set this aside with the chicken.
- Bring a large pan of water to a boil, salt it well and add in the pasta.
- Set the timer for 1 minute less than the packet suggests.
- While the pasta is cooking, melt 1 tablespoon of butter together with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small saucepan.
- Stir 2 teaspoons of chicken better than bouillon into the butter mixture. Or crumble in 2 chicken bouillon cubes. Let this mixture bubble gently together.
- Add in the chopped leaves of the 3 rosemary sprigs and then take 1 cup of water from the pasta pan and add it to the butter mixture.
- Add ⅓ cup of raisins to the butter mixture and reduce the heat down to a low simmer.
- When the pasta has cooked, reserve a large measuring cup/jug of the pasta cooking water - you want at least 2 cups.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the butter and chicken stock.
- Stir in the chicken meat (plus any reserved juice) and a ½ cup of the reserved water.
- Cook over low heat until the pasta is well coated and the chicken has heated through.
- Add more cooking water as needed to ensure the pasta is juicy and coated.
- Serve topped with the toasted pine nuts.
Notes
- You can roast your own chicken or use leftover chicken from your Sunday roast. (See my quick roast chicken recipe) If you are roasting your own then you can use the pan drippings instead of butter mixed with just 1 teaspoon of better than bouillon or 1 bouillon cube.
- Any long pasta noodle will work here.
- These add the salty savory chicken flavor, use whichever you have to hand. The better quality ones give better flavor.
- You can use standard raisins or golden raisins. Or substitute sultanas or dried cranberries.
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