Recipe: Creamy Chicken and Spinach Pasta

I think some of you have been waiting for me to post this recipe, and who am I to keep this yummy treasure to myself?

Real Simple is one of my favorite magazines--and one of the main reasons I get it is for the yummy, and usually pretty easy, recipes that it has. The recipe I'm sharing with you today is one of those: fast and easy, and not a ton of ingredients.

 Wanna know what's even better?

It can all be made in one pot!

Easy to make, easy to clean up! Just what this girl loves :)

What You Need:

-3/4 lb gemelli pasta (or whatever pasta you want)
-1 cup frozen peas
-1 Tablespoon butter
-2 cloves fresh garlic (or ~1 tsp minced garlic from jar)
-1 cup heavy cream
-2 cups cooked chicken (recipe says for rotisserie chicken. We got pre-cooked packaged chicken since it was buy one get one at the store).
-5 oz baby spinach (roughly one bag)

-grated parmesan cheese
-salt and pepper

What You Do:

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Ours was 12 minutes of cooking once the water boiled. Add in the cup of frozen peas for the last minute of cooking in the water. Drain (reserve some cooking water--about 1/2 cup).

2. Heat up the butter and garlic over medium heat until fragrant (about 30 seconds)

(try and avoid taking a picture as the steam rises up into your camera)

3. Add in the cream, chicken and spinach. Stir it around to coat evenly.

Cook through so that chicken is warmed and spinach is wilted.

4. Add the pasta and peas to the pot.  Add in 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Mix it all together. Add in some of the reserved cooking water (1/2 cup) here if the mixture is too dry. We didn't need to with ours.

5. Serve it up and top with desired amount of Parmesan. You know me, I like cheese :)

Revel in the deliciousness, and in how little time it takes you to clean up afterwards!
I promise, you will really love this dish.

Hope you enjoy!