Chicken, Tomato And Spinach Stew With Chickpeas

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 8 cups water
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
• 2 small onions, quartered
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/2 lb penne or 1/2 lb rotini pasta, par cooked
• chicken meat
• 1 (14 ounce) can chickpeas, drained
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 lb fresh spinach leaves

Recipe

• 1 place chicken in large dutch oven or stock pot.
• 2 pour water into pot and add whole garlic cloves and quartered onion.
• 3 bring to a boil and cook chicken, covered, turning periodically,for about 15 minutes or until the meat is firm but juicy and has no pink in the middle.
• 4 while the chicken is cooking combine all ingredients for stew base and whisk together until entirely incorporated. set aside.
• 5 while chicken is cooking par cook the pasta (about 7 minutes) and set aside.
• 6 when the chicken is done turn off the heat and allow to cool, uncovered for about 10 minutes.
• 7 place a large bowl in the sink with a clean strainer over it. pour the contents of the pot into the strainer. if you like, transfer the broth into a clean bowl and set aside. allow the chicken to continue cooling until you can comfortably handle the pieces and then hand pull the breast and thighs.set the meat aside.
• 8 place the dutch oven or stockpot on medium heat and add the reserved stew base, chickpeas and diced tomatoes. cook for about 8 minutes or until the sauce has thickened a bit and the tomatoes have lost their raw taste.
• 9 add the par cooked pasta to this mixture and cook for about 2 minutes.
• 10 . add the reserved chicken and cook for another 2 minutes.
• 11 add the spinach leaves, cover and cook until just wilted. about 2 minutes.
• 12 adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
• 13 serve as is in deep bowls with shaved parmesan or asiago and a crisp salad.