Pan Seared Chicken Breast with a Tomato Wine Pan Sauce

This is a meal that I cook quite often on weeknights.  It's a super simple, super quick meal that both kids and adults enjoy.  The technique of creating a pan sauce is a basic cooking technique that you can use with different ingredients to create you own sauces.  In this instance we are going to create a quick, delicious Italian style tomato sauce.  I'm talking 5 minutes quick, and it beats the pants off Prego!  I serve this meal with cedar plank roasted veggies.

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 small chicken breasts or, if you bought big breasts (insert Bevis and Butthead giggle here), butterfly two of the chicken breasts so that they are about 1 to 1 and 1/2 inch thick.
flour
1 12oz can of chopped tomatoes (juice and all)
1/2 cup dry white wine (chardonnay works great)
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
7 to 10 leaves of fresh basil
salt and pepper
whole wheat pasta

Cook the pasta according to the directions.  Wash and pat dry the chicken breasts.  Butterfly them if they are too thick, transforming 2 chicken breasts into 4 fillets.  Salt and pepper the chicken on both sides.  Place the 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy frying pan and heat over medium high heat.  Dredge the chicken breasts in flour on both sides and place in the frying pan(once the oil is hot) so that they are not touching.  Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side until browned on each side and the chicken is cooked through.  Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a plate or dish.  Do not discard the oil in the frying pan.  

Return the pan to the burner and add the wine to deglaze the pan.  Using a wooden spoon, scrape all of the bits of chicken and flour stuck to the pan loose so that it incorporates into the sauce.  Add the tomatoes, garlic and a pinch of salt.  Turn up the heat to high and reduce the sauce until it thickens.  It should only take about 5 minutes.  While the sauce is cooking, stack several leaves of basil together.  Roll them up like your making a basil cigarette.  Using a sharp knife, slice the basil into thin strips.  This technique is called "chiffon".

To plate, place a serving of pasta in each plate or bowl.  Top with a chicken breast, then spoon the pan sauce over the chicken breast.  Top with the basil chiffon and your ready to go.  You can also add some Parmesan cheese and roasted veggies to round out the dish.  Enjoy!