I'm in the mood for a little greek.

I have a hankering for something salty for dinner, so I'm heading to the store for the fixings for Mediterranean Pasta with chicken. I don't think of myself as a big chicken person, I love fish, and a good rib eye, but it's not my go to protein. I have about five recipes for chicken that I really like, and this is a good one. It reminds me of the four years we lived in Astoria, which is a big Greek neighborhood in Queens. I miss black squid ink pasta and shrimp, I can't find that anywhere but Astoria. And I never knew there were multiple varieties of feta, the deli carried 6 different kinds! Don't even get me started on the olives......drool.

I saw Tyler Florence make this pasta on the food network years ago, and I've tweaked it to my liking....I think you'll like it too.

Mediterranean Pasta

One pound of skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

One cup of sun dried tomatoes, sliced (I get the oil free ones that come in a foil pouch)

1/4 pound kalamata olives, pitted and sliced, some into halves and some into quarters

8 ounces of feta cheese (I get it in a brick, and crumble it myself)

one, 8.5 ounce can of artichoke hearts in water, drained, and quartered

3 cloves of garlic, minced.

1/2 cup of milk (you can use heavy cream if you want to splurge a bit)

1/4 cup fresh basil (I pick the leaves, stack them, roll them like a cigar, then slice into strips)

3/4 of a pound of small pasta, like mini penne

salt and pepper, olive oil

I boil the water, and cook the pasta at the same time that I'm making the sauce.

1.Heat oil in a large skillet, and brown the chicken (or grill it ahead of time and slice it)

2. Add the garlic and tomatoes to chicken, saute about 2 minutes

3. Add basil, artichoke, olives and feta, saute another 2 - 3 minutes, then add the milk/cream.

4. turn heat to low, and cook through another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain pasta, and pour sauce over pasta, stir and serve. Yum.