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This deliciously creamy Gemelli pasta recipe has chicken, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes. It’s a wonderfully flavorful and hearty meal that comes together in less than 30 minutes. This is a copycat recipe for the gemelli chicken pasta from Pasta Pomodoro, a restaurant chain that was based in California. Even if you’ve never had it at the restaurant, you will love this easy pasta recipe!
The first time I had this Gemelli chicken pasta was when my husband recreated this dish for us at home. He used to be a server at Pasta Pomorodo (an Italian restaurant chain based in California that is now closed), and this was his favorite dish. I really enjoyed the tangy sun-dried tomatoes and love how the slightly creamy pasta clung onto the spiral noodles. I love the balance of all the ingredients, it’s not too creamy, not too cheesy; just the right blend of flavors. I’m pretty sure I ate half the pot! Unfortunately, I never had a chance to try the restaurant version while living in the Bay Area since it abruptly closed. However, my husband assures me this is a close replica, so I’ll just need to take his word on it. Read: if you don’t think this tastes like the restaurant version, you can blame him.
How To Prepare the Gemelli Pasta Recipe
I adapted this recipe so you can make everything in 30 minutes or less. Start with boiling the water for the pasta, and use that time to prep your ingredients (e.g. cut the chicken, slice the mushrooms). Once the water boils, you’ll throw your pasta in and begin cooking the chicken and sauce in a separate pan. The sauce will be ready and cooked by the time the pasta is finished. Be sure to cook the pasta a minute short of the actual cooking time so you can finish it in the sauce. Combine the pasta into the sauce and voilà! You have yourself an easy and quick dinner.
Where To Buy Gemelli Pasta
Gemelli pasta has a simple spiral shape of two strands of pasta twisted together. For some reason, I had a heck of a time trying to find a dry pasta version at my local grocery store and ended up buying some from Amazon. Later, I did find a pre-cooked version by Barilla at a regular grocery store that you nuke in the microwave for 60 seconds. You could absolutely use this pasta, too; instead of microwaving it per the instructions, just add it directly to your chicken and sauce. It’s a nice shortcut that reduces the cooking time even more.
Note: this recipe calls for 8 ounces of dry gemelli pasta. If using the pre-cooked pasta, you’ll want to buy two packs which is equal to four servings.
If you can’t find gemelli pasta, you could try penne, fusilli, or cavatappi pasta. You’ll want something spiralized or with ridges so the sauce has something to cling onto. If you can find gemelli pasta, though, use it! I think they’re perfect for this recipe, and fun to eat.
Other Modifications
This dish calls for 0.5 cups of chicken stock and 1 cup of heavy cream for a total of 1.5 cups of liquid. You can absolutely modify the ratio of chicken stock and cream, as long as you keep the liquid to 1.5 cups. Want to lighten it up? Try using less cream and more stock.
Here are other ingredient substitutions you could make:
- Heavy cream – You could substitute half and half, whole milk, or even oat milk.
- Chicken stock – I often have chicken stock in the freezer I make from deboning chicken thighs. Try subbing chicken or vegetable broth. Alternatively, you can mix water with about one teaspoon of chicken bullion to make a quick stock.
- Chicken breast – Try subbing shrimp, or if you don’t want any meat just add more mushrooms.
- Mushrooms – Omit them if you don’t like them, or try subbing with zucchini.
Other Recipes To Try:
Gemelli Pasta (30 minutes or less!)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 quarts water for boiling
- 8 ounces dry gemelli pasta (see notes for substitutions)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound chicken breast, sliced into small bite sized pieces
- 4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 ounces sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken stock (see notes for substitutions)
- 1 cup heavy cream (see notes for substitutions)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (plus more for topping if you'd like)
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients (I'm missing the parmesan cheese here, but don't forget that!)
- Fill a medium pot with 3 quarts of water and bring to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, add a big pinch of salt and toss in the pasta. You'll want to cook the pasta according to the directions on the box minus one minute. For example, my pasta required 10 minutes to cook al dente, so I boiled it for 9 minutes. As soon as you pour the pasta into the boiling water, you will begin cooking the rest of the ingredients.
- Heat up a large pan on medium-high heat and add extra virgin olive oil. Add sliced chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
- When the chicken is almost cooked through, add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, allowing some of the liquid to evaporate.
- Next, add the chicken stock and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir and deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom with a spoon. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add cream into the pan and stir. Allow the sauce to thicken slightly. By now the pasta should be ready. Using a spider strainer or sieve, take out the pasta from the boiling water and put it in the pan with the sauce. Stir vigorously. The starchy pasta will absorb some of the liquid and the sauce will thicken. If the sauce thickens up too fast, add some pasta water to thin it out.
- When the sauce is thickened and coating the pasta, turn off the heat. Lastly, add the parmesan cheese. Stir and let it melt into the sauce. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you need.
- Transfer pasta to a serving dish. Top with extra parmesan cheese if you wish and enjoy!
Notes
- You can substitute gemelli pasta for fusilli, penne, or cavatappi. You can also use the Barilla pre-cooked pasta (you will need four servings which is two packs).
- If you don’t have chicken stock, use chicken broth or vegetable broth. Alternatively, take water and add 1 teaspoon of chicken bullion.
- You can substitute the cream with half and half, whole milk, or oat milk. It just won’t be as creamy!
- Feel free to play with the ratio of cream and chicken stock. You just want it to total 1.5 cups of liquid. For example, if you want a lighter and less creamy version, try 1 cup of stock and 0.5 cups cream.
This looks delicious and easy to make.
Ahhh! This looks SO good! I love pasta and have never tried gemelli. I will totally be making this now!
I hope you do, let me know how it goes!
This looks really really good and healthy!! I have never tried gemelli so I will definitely make this recipe. Thank you for sharing ❤️
It looks delicious!! I can’t wait to try this recipe!!
I would like to try some, where can I get some?
I’ll be trying this recipe, it looks delicious and I like creamy pasta.
Thanks so much for checking out this recipe!
This is an excellent Meatless Monday dish. The pasta with mushrooms looks delicious 😋.
For sure, you could easily do this without chicken!
This looks so good! I’ve never tried Gemelli pasta, I need to get some asap!
Let me know if you end up trying it!
I love learning about new recipes. I’m a pasta girl and I’ve never knew the name of this type. Awesome post. Looks amazing.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for publishing this recipe. We were big fans of Pasta P. and especially the gemelli. I have been trying off and on to approximate the recipe and this helped me get closer. The original sauce was a bit more brown in color and there was a bit more depth. I followed your suggestion and modified the wet ingredients, using one cup broth and a half cup cream. I have made your recipe three to four times now, each time tweaking it to get closer to what we remember. Today as I made your recipe, I decided to add one of those chicken stock sachets, the kind that come with Hello Fresh recipes (Savory Choice Chicken Broth Concentrate.) According to my father, this was the closest iterate yet. Thank you for making this possible!