Creamy Baked Chicken Thighs with Pearl Onions, Spinach and Tomatoes

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure.  In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”  Julia Childs

What’s for dinner?  In this house inspiration is usually found in the freezer, fridge or pantry.  This one dish meal recipe came together as a  happy accident  and won rave reviews from the peanut gallery so it’s making it onto  the blog.  Weeknight cooking is often done in a one dish, usually a sheet pan:  minimum prep, quick, easy cleanup.  The formula is usually the same:  a protein, veggies, a starch.  For this dish,  chicken thighs are browned first, then baked with spinach, pearl onions, slivers of sundried tomatoes and a bit of cream seasoned with Dijon. Tossed with left over penne pasta then topped with fresh chopped rosemary, parmesan and crumbled bacon, it is a tasty and quick answer to “What’s for dinner?”  My family called this “sort of like a chicken Alfredo but with lots of other stuff”.  Pretty much sums it up.  Delish!

• Servings: 6
• Time: 1 hr
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

3 lbs of chicken thighs, trimmed

2 garlic cloves, minced

salt, pepper, oregano to taste

1 lb of frozen pearl onions, thawed

1/4 c slivered sundried tomatoes

4 c baby spinach leaves

1 c cream mixed with 2 T Dijon

2 T grated parmesan cheese

2 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled

1 t chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 lb of penne pasta, cooked according to instructions

Sauté chicken to brown.  Stir in onions and garlic for a couple of minutes.  Add tomatoes and spinach and cook until wilted. If using a shallow oven proof pan, you could take this directly to the oven.   Transfer to a baking dish.  Add the seasoned cream and bake, covered, on the middle rack for 1 hour.  Toss with penne pasta.  Top with parmesan, rosemary and crumbled bacon.      You could substitute regular chopped onions in a pinch.  The pearl onions are just so good when you bite into them!  The dish reheats well and the left overs were really good.  Serves 6.  Bon appétit!

Seasoned chicken being browned

Adding garlic and pearl onions

The dish ready to bake

Ready to add the pasta

If you are looking for more inspiration to get dinner on the table with minimal fuss and easy ckeanup, I highly recommend Molly Gilbert’s new book, Sheet Pan Suppers.  Her tasty dishes are the busy cook’s salvation for interesting dishes on the run.  120 beautifully photographed recipes are presented in an easy to use format.  A little gem of a cookbook for everyday meal prep.