RECIPE: Not Just Another Pasta Dish

There are no words... literally...


I really struggled with what to call this one... "Chicken and pasta in a creamy tomato sauce" just doesn't do it. It's just so much more than that! So my hero-of-a-hubby helped me with this name...

Just wait until you taste this deliciousness.... is that a word?! (Confession: I don't really care if it is or isn't.)

So, here's where we start...



Oh yeah, and don't forget these...



Chicken: season and grill... inside or out, it's your choice. But grilled it must be. The grilled flavor leaves a smokey nuance that you want! I promise...







Dice and set aside... and then we're on to the next thing, the fun part!



It's veg time... saute time...





And then sauce time... starting with tomato sauce.



And see the inside of the can? You want the rest of that tomato sauce. So... watch what I do... (I bet you've done it too!)



I pour my chicken broth in the can ... and when I pour out the chicken broth it welomes the rest of the goodness to the party...





And some more seasoning: onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and dried oregano...





Stir well and let it reduce...

About 20 minutes later the sauce will be reduced enough to move forward. So, add the mascarpone and watch the best part of this whole process... watch it melt!

(Silence please...)







See ???



Now we're ready to bring everyone else to the party... pasta and chicken, here we go!



Give it a good stir...



Just enough to rewarm the chicken and then we're ready ... are you hungry?!



You have to make this soon... real soon!



Let me know how it goes... and let me know how much your family loves on you after serving them this scrumptious deliciousness!




Not Just Another Chicken and Pasta Dish
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
1 pound rigatoni
12-15 chicken tenders
15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 can’s worth of chicken broth
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Dash of red pepper flakes
2 roma tomatoes, diced
Half yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt/pepper

Instructions
Season chicken on one side with ½ teaspoon each of onion powder and garlic powder, and a light sprinkle of kosher salt (once the chicken is on the grill, sprinkle the other side with black pepper). Grill chicken on BBQ or stovetop grill pan until done. Once done, allow to cool and dice into bit size pieces (or approximately the same size as the pasta you are using).

While chicken is cooking, sauté diced onions and tomato in olive oil. (I usually salt/pepper the veg while sautéing as well – it helps to pull the water out and break down the veg.) Allow to cook on medium-low until soft/translucent and tomatoes break down a bit, stirring often. Increase heat to medium and add tomato sauce, chicken stock, 1 teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic powder and oregano. Bring to a boil, mix well. Reduce heat slightly and allow to bubble gently. Allow sauce to reduce for about 15-20 minutes (fluid will reduce by about half).

Cook pasta according to directions. A minute before the pasta is ready add mascarpone cheese to the tomato reduction and stir. Enjoy the process of watching it melt, stirring gently into the tomato sauce. Mix well. Add drained pasta and chicken pieces. Stir well to make sure all of the pasta is coated with sauce. Garnish with freshly shaved parmesan cheese. (Feeds 4-6 people... unless you're SUPER hungry!)



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Spicy Shrimp and Chicken Pasta

I would like to introduce you to my new favorite dish! And the butter and heavy cream doesn't have ANYTHING to do with it! ;-)

First we start with our ingredients... our lovely, lovely ingredients.



What do we have hear? Quite a plethora of goods! Take it all in... because this one moves fast! I recommend you spend a few moments preparing your ingredients ahead of time because once you turn on the heat this goes pretty fast!

First, we chop our fresh "veg"...



And then we take out the freshly dried (and then freshly reconstituted) sun-dried tomatoes.



Give 'em a quick chop... and set aside.



In the meantime, I cut up our jumbo shrimp into bite-size pieces.



Cut the chicken tenders as well... and arrange them all neatly on a plate.



Next step: it's time to dress the meat! And by "dress" I mean, season them. Here we have garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder.



Just a quick sprinkle ... super simple! And for good measure, some kosher salt too!



And now it's time to heat things up! When sauteing my "veg" I usually use a little olive oil and a little butter. (The butter adds great flavor while the olive oil has a higher burn temperature. So when you mix the oil with the butter it allows us to saute at a slightly higher temperature.)



Sliced shallots and mushrooms in the hot pan!

This will take a few minutes so I got the pasta down in the generously-salted boiling water. (Here's my way of making this dish healthy - I used whole wheat pasta and it was yummy!)





Allow the veggies to saute down, and soften nicely, for about 3-4 minutes. Then add your chicken (chicken takes a bit longer to cook than shrimp - so we will add the shrimp in a moment).



Stir it all around the pan a bit and make sure than chicken is cooking even on all sides.



Once the chicken looks like the pink is almost gone, add your shrimp and give it a stir! The shrimp will immediately start to turn that beautiful color of corral! (I love that color - and it means the shrimp is almost done!)



Quickly moving into the next steps: add the cream, romano cheese and nutmeg. Stir.



The cayenne pepper goes in at this point. Stir well. Make sure the cheese is melting!



And for good measure, I added just a little more cheese. Shaved parmesan this time.



Next we add in the sun-dried tomatoes (chopped)... but because I didn't have enough of the tomatoes, I also added a teaspoon of "sun-dried tomato pesto" (in fact, you can completely substitute out the tomatoes with this pesto instead).



Stir until the parmesan has melted and the tomatoes are even distrtibuted. And lastly, add the sliced green onions. One more stir...





Then it's time to fold in the cooked/drained pasta!



Mix well... making sure to coat each penne with some sauce! Believe me when I say this - you don't want to waste any of this sauce... you just don't!



Make sure to serve it up with something to soak up that heavenly juice... we had garlic bread with dinner. Perfect way to soak up those juices... perfect!






Spicy Shrimp and Chicken Pasta

Ingredients
4-5 chicken tenders, diced
1 ½ tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
10-12 large raw shrimp, peeled, tail removed and cleaned
½ cup fresh crimini mushrooms, cleaned and diced
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
2 green onions, diced
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted and diced (or 1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato pesto sauce)
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 ½ cups heavy cream
3/4 cup romano cheese, grated
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
8 ounces dry penne or bow tie pasta

Instructions
Add butter to a large sauté pan on medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add mushrooms and shallot. Allow the veg to sauté until slightly softened (about 3-4 minutes). Season the shrimp and chicken pieces with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder and salt. Once the veg is softened, add the shrimp/chicken and sauté until almost done (this should only take about 3-4 minutes). Add the cream, Romano cheese, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Let cream reduce slightly, stirring frequently. Add the green onions and diced sun-dried tomatoes... toss (holding some of the green oniones for garnish). Meanwhile, cook pasta al dente according to package directions; drain excess water. Toss cooked pasta with contents of sauté pan. Serve. Top with diced green onions and parmesan cheese.




enjoy your time in the kitchen...

my fav mac n' cheese...

it's perfect... it's heavenly... it's amazing... it's mouthwatering...

it's delectable... it's tasty... it's tempting... it's out of this world!

it's my favorite mac 'n cheese... E-V-E-R!!!

excuse me for a few moments....

it got a little ugly this afternoon... but it was yummy!

(my hero-of-a-hubby is out golfing ... so i didn't even have to share...)

btw - it's from Trader Joe's... it's found in the frozen food section... it's hard to wait 25 minutes while it's in the oven.

but it's worth the wait...

tip from Lori: about half-way through the cooking time, take it out of the oven and stir it up with a spoon. make sure it's mixed well... it cooks more evenly if you do!

enjoy your time in the kitcen...