Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Chicken and Mozzarella

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves, minced
4 oz sun-dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb chicken breast tenderloins, sliced
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon paprika
1 cup half and half (or use ½ cup heavy cream + ½ cup milk)
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (do not use fresh Mozzarella, use pre-shredded Mozzarella)
8 oz penne pasta (for gluten-free, use gluten-free brown rice pasta)
1 tablespoon basil
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ cup reserved cooked pasta water or more
¼ teaspoon salt to taste

Instructions:

In a large skillet, sauté garlic and drained sun-dried tomatoes in 2 tablespoons of olive oil (reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes jar) for 1 minute on medium heat until the garlic is fragrant.
Remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the skillet, leaving the olive oil.
Add sliced chicken (seasoned with salt and lightly covered in paprika for color) and cook on high heat for 1 minute on each side. Remove from heat.
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve some cooked pasta water. Drain the pasta.
Slice sun-dried tomatoes into smaller pieces and add them back to the skillet with chicken.
To make the creamy pasta sauce, add half-and-half (see substitution for half-and-half in the Recipe Notes section below) and Mozzarella cheese to the skillet, and bring to a gentle boil.
Immediately reduce to simmer and cook, constantly stirring, until all cheese melts and a creamy sauce forms.
Add the cooked and drained pasta to the skillet with the cream sauce, and stir to combine.
Add 1 tablespoon of basil and at least ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
If the creamy sauce is too thick, add about ½ cup of reserved cooked pasta water to the skillet to thin it out. Do not add all of the pasta water at once – you might need less or more of it.
Season the chicken pasta with salt and more red pepper flakes, to taste, if needed. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes for flavors to combine.