Sunday, April 11, 2010

All aboard the chicken express...

The other night when I made a waldorf chicken salad, I purposely cooked up some extra chicken breasts. There are hundreds of things you can do with cooked chicken so I thought it could save me time in the future.

Well it already came in handy tonight. I was lucky enough to get a nap in this afternoon. My wonderful hubby took the kids for a bike ride and some backyard play while I hibernated. I woke up over an hour and a half later and realized it was dinner time. Thankfully there was the cooked chicken breast ready to go. I was able to whip up a yummy pasta dish in about twenty minutes.

Pasta with Chicken and Peas

  • 1 small onion, 1/4 inch dice
  • 1 large tomato, 1/2 inch dice
  • 1 tablespoon garlic
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 3/4 cup of heavy cream
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 large or 2 smaller cooked chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch cubes  
  • 1 1/2 cups of frozen peas (I like a lot of peas but you can use more or less), defrosted and brought to room temperature
  • 1 lb of pasta (I used a fusilli col buco by Giada de Laurentiis for Target)
  • grated parmesan cheese

Start a large pot of water boiling. When water starts to boil, salt the water and add the pasta. Cook according to package directions for al dente (as the pasta is cooking, start making the sauce).
When pasta is done cooking, drain and set aside.

Heat up olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the broth and wine, bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Releasing the brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the heavy cream, salt and pepper. When it comes to a boil again turn down heat to a low simmer. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce should start thickening up. Add the chicken and cook in the sauce for 1 minute to heat the chicken up. Turn off the heat, add the peas and pasta. Combine everything together until all the pasta is coated in sauce. Season with more salt and pepper only if necessary. Serve immediately with a side of grated parmesan cheese.

4 comments:

  1. Ok, so I made this tonight. I loved it! My kids on the other hand - they wouldn't go for it. Nothing really I didn't expect. My 5 year old is and always has been super picky. Sigh. My 2 year old has gotten pickier since being introduced to sweet food. What was I thinking???!! I have a feeling he may try it again in the future though. Anyhow I wanted you to know how much I enjoyed it. I changed a couple things up - rotini pasta instead and I skipped the wine and just doubled the broth. I also only made half the recipe and was plenty plenty for our family of four, even if my monkeys had eaten the portions on their plate. Ha!

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  2. Haha! Yes, it makes A LOT! It would be great to feed a party of six adults. I tend to cook in large quantities so that I can get a few more meals out of it.

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