Spicy Roasted Chicken Pasta with Tomatoes and Peppers

It's that time of summer... and my parent's (and everybody and their uncle) are overflowing with tomatoes off the vine. I must admit I'm not typically a big tomato-eater. Since I met Dustin and his family, I've learned to like them more. They're the kind that love to slice them up and eat them raw with a sprinkle of salt. Recently, however, I've discovered a tomato application that I really love. And it's a good thing... because we planted 4 tomato plants of our own this year in the new house... and now I'll have something to do with them when our "late bloomers" finally arrive.

This is a mix of a Food & Wine Magazine recipe and whatever I had/felt like using. Here's the original for you rule-followers :)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Roast-Chicken-with-Tomatoes-and-Marjoram-108245

Did I mention that this was also a good excuse to finally use my Mario Batali lasagna dish that we received as a wedding gift? Because it was... and I was excited :)

I threw in a few cloves of garlic, 1/2 sliced onion, about a dozen each of roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, 2 diced green peppers, and a tsp. each of basil and crushed red pepper. Then I threw in 2 chicken breasts (lightly seasoned with salt/pepper) and drizzed some EVOO over everything. I don't have Marjoram in the pantry... so I used a close cousin named Basil... and no, that wasn't fresh either. I know-- I'm breaking all sorts of rules today :)

The chicken was very moist and flavorful and I just love the "burst" of the teeny, roasted tomatoes in my mouth. Dustin liked the kick from the crushed red pepper.

I also cooked up some pasta: our usual wheat thin spaghetti. I used about 2 tsp. butter, 1/4 cup heavy cream (because it was still leftover in the fridge), parm. cheese, grated lemon zest and some lemon juice. It was a light, fresh pairing to the chicken and we really enjoyed the left over pasta with roasted tomatoes. Becuase, really, Dustin doesn't allow chicken to go to uneaten so there aren't usually leftovers there.