Balsamic Marinated Chicken with Spinach and Ricotta Pasta

I made this for dinner tonight, and it was really good so I think you should try it. (P.S. I never measure anything when I'm cooking! These measurements are really estimates, and you can do everything to taste anyway.)

Balsamic Marinated Chicken with Spinach and Ricotta Pasta

What you'll need:
-1 pound white meat chicken (I used tenderloin strips, which amounted to about 8 strips, cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
-Balsamic wine vinaigrette (see below)
-1/2 white onion, chopped
-1/2 green pepper, chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-2 tablespoons butter
-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (separated)
-1 box dried ziti
-2 cups fresh spinach leaves
-1 ball (80z) fresh mozzarella, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
-1/2 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
-1/2 large tomato, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
-1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
-1/4 cup white wine
-salt and pepper

How to do it:
Toss chunks of chicken into balsamic wine vinaigrette and allow to marinate for a few hours, overnight if possible.
When you're ready to cook (all mise en place is done ahead of time, of course!), sprinkle the tomato chunks with a bit of salt and toss with the balsamic vinegar. Set aside for the time being.
Cook ziti according to package instructions, then drain, return to pan, and toss with 1 tbsp. olive oil. Put it back on low heat and toss in ricotta cheese, mozzarella, and tomatoes.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, melt butter with 1 tbsp. olive oil, and add the onions and peppers when the pan is hot. Sweat the vegetables until they are soft, then add the garlic. Cook for another two minutes, stirring often, then add the wine. Allow to reduce for several minutes until sauce is thickened slightly, then add chicken. Cook until chicken chunks are white in the middle, then add spinach to pan, stir, and cover until spinach wilts. Toss contents of skillet into pasta. Enjoy. (P.P.S. Yes, the croissant is store-bought. Whatever! I'm not Superman!)

Balsamic Wine Vinaigrette

Okay so you could just marinate your chicken in store-bought balsamic vinaigrette and that would be fabulous, but when I'm cooking I try to make things (especially sauces, marinades, and the like) myself. Here's what I did:

What you'll need:
-1/4 cup white wine
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
-1 tsp. brown sugar
-a pinch of pepper
-a LIBERAL pinch of salt
-3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

How to do it:
Whisk together all ingredients except olive oil until thoroughly combined. Then SLOWLY drizzle in olive oil while whisking until mixture is emulsified. REMEMBER: you're marinating a chicken, not dressing a salad! This vinaigrette should be somewhat more acidic and somewhat saltier than your average salad dressing. You will notice the difference.