Red pepper sauce with chicken is a quick, low-fat meal

Dinner with acclaimed chef and author Jacques Pepin is always special. On a recent evening at his Connecticut home, he served a red pepper sauce over homemade ravioli. When he told me how easy the sauce was, I decided to use it as a basis for this quick pairing with chicken.

I used fusilli corti -- short springs or corkscrews -- because I liked the way the ridges trap the sauce, but any short-cut pasta such as penne or elbow macaroni will do.

This meal contains 647 calories per serving with 16 percent of calories from fat.

Wine suggestion: Try a white with some fruit to it -- a nice California sauvignon blanc, for example, to complement the bell pepper taste.

Helpful hints:

• Minced garlic can be found in the produce section of the market. Garlic cloves can be used instead. Use one garlic clove in the pasta recipe and one in the chicken recipe.

• Look for boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlet. If unavailable, use boneless, skinless chicken breasts and pound them with a meat mallet to ¼- to 1/2-inch thick.