Here’s an incredibly scrumptious ravioli dish that I just love. Love. This is definitely one of my favorites here, I could eat that crispy sage all day long! The flavor combinations in this dish blow me away every single time. I know you’ll love this one!

I normally use leftover rotisserie chicken in this dish, but just in case you don’t have any on hand, let me show you this quick and easy chicken technique I picked up from the fabulous Picky Palate blog.

Start with 1 lb split chicken breast with rib meat, skin on.

You’ll also need kosher salt, pepper, and this menagerie of spices — dried thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Smoked is very nice.

Combine 1 tsp of all your spices…

And sprinkle over both sides of the chicken.

Heat one tablespoon of canola oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven or a large, oven-safe pot. We’ll be moving it to the oven later. And if you happen to have leftover bacon grease, like I did, I highly recommend that you use that instead. Like I did.

When the oil is hot, add the chicken skin side down and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.

Like this.. check out that beautiful crispy skin! Any longer and the spices will start to burn, in which case the dish would become Brown Butter Ravioli with Blackened Chicken, Toasted Walnuts & Crispy Sage.

Flip the chicken over and cook on the other side for 2 more minutes, then move to a 350 degree oven to finish cooking for 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, you’ll need about 1/3 cup of these gorgeous, soft, fragrant sage leaves.

Then go ahead and boil and drain your ravioli. I like this mini three cheese ravioli.

When the chicken is done, allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then chop into bite-sized pieces.

Grab about 1/2 cup walnuts…

And place them in a large skillet over medium heat and toast for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently, especially during the last couple of minutes so they don’t burn.

Here they are all nice and toasted.

Remove from the skillet and chop.

Next, wipe the skillet of any remaining walnut crumbs, place it back over medium heat and melt 4 tablespoons of butter.

When it just starts to turn brown, add your sage leaves.

And stir constantly for one minute. It burns easily, so after one minute,  immediately add the drained ravioli and stir to combine, then turn the heat to low and add the chicken and most of the chopped walnuts.

Plate the ravioli and top with the remaining chopped walnuts for garnish. For a truly nirvana-like experience, get one of everything in a single bite — cheesy, brown buttery ravioli, crispy sage, a few toasted walnuts, and a bite of your rotisserie chicken. I die.

© kevinandamanda.com, 2011. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

This crispy shrimp pasta is such a treat. It’s rich, buttery, creamy, and a cinch to whip up. The golden crust on the shrimp is just glorious. I can’t say enough good things about this perfectly indulgent delight!

Boil noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, grab three-fourths of a pound of raw shrimp that’s been peeled, deveined, and tails removed. This is just the right amount for two servings.

Season generously with salt..

And freshly ground pepper. Give this a stir to evenly distribute the seasoning.

Sprinkle on one tablespoon of flour…

And stir to coat.

Add one more tablespoon of flour for good measure.

And stir to evenly coat the shrimp. Perfect.

Melt one tablespoon of butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

When melted and hot, add the shrimp in a single layer and cook one one side for about 2-3 minutes until golden brown.

Flip the shrimp and cook until golden brown on the other side, another 2-3 minutes.

When done, remove the shrimp to the plate. This golden, crispy crust, inspired by How Sweet Eats’ Crispy Shrimp Pasta with Arugula Pesto Cream Sauce is pure heaven!

Pour in the chicken broth and cook for about 5 minutes, whisking the bottom of the pan to deglaze.

Reduce heat to medium and pour in cream, whisking constantly. Cook sauce over medium heat until bubbly and the cream starts to thicken the mixture, about 5-10 minutes.

You’ll want to add some seasoning at this point. Just some salt and pepper would be nice, but I usually add 1/2 teaspoon of my favorite cajun seasoning. It’s perfect for rich, creamy sauces like this.

Season your sauce as desired, then add the drained pasta and shrimp to the sauce and stir to combine. This combination has such a rich, wonderful flavor. It’s one of our favorites!

© kevinandamanda.com, 2011. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

This delicious, incredibly cheesy dish is another one of our favorite weeknight dinners. It’s beefy, hearty and whips up in less than 20 minutes. Hope you love this one as much as we do!

Start with one pound of lean hamburger meat, browned and drained.

Add a package of taco seasoning.

And one can of this. The good stuff.

You don’t even have to bother to drain it!

Gosh, I really like Rotel.

Add two cups of beef broth.

(You can also just use water if you want.)

And one cup of elbow macaroni. You’ll be glad you did.

By the way, I’ve tried other shapes of pasta in this recipe, and none of them seem to work as well as good old macaroni. Gotta love it.

Stir to combine, and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 12-14 minutes until the macaroni is tender.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add 2 tablespoons of flour.

Whisk to combine, and continue to cook, whisking until the roux is fragrant and light brown in color, about 5 minutes.

Whisk in 3/4 cup of milk.

And bring the sauce to a boil. Whisk until smooth and thickened.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, and add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Whisk until melted. Heaven help me.

Now one last step for the sauce, this stuff needs some seasoning! Add 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper. I love this seasoned salt and pepper.

Here’s what your hamburger and noodles should look like after 12-14 minutes. Don’t worry if there’s still some beef broth in there. You may want to taste test a noodle for doneness at this point.

If you like it, go ahead and pour in the cheese sauce and stir gently to combine.

Glorious! Beef. Cheese. Rotel. Taco seasoning. Does it get any better than this? Enjoy!

© kevinandamanda.com, 2011. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

This delicious, cheesy, ooey gooey lasagna is so yummy! It may sound weird, but with fresh, summery zucchini, plenty of bacon, three types of cheese, and a little pinch of nutmeg, it’s just bursting with flavor. It’s fun to make and super impressive because you get to toss around phrases like “fontina cheese”, “freshly grated nutmeg” and “Oh, I’m just whipping up a béchamel sauce!”

Give it a try… you won’t be disappointed! :)

What better place to start than with bacon! I’m seriously considering making this my desktop background. You’ll need about 6-8 slices cooked bacon, and here’s how I do it: Arrange bacon slices on a cooling rack (like for cookies) and set on top of sheet pan. If you don’t have a cooling rack, you can just put it in the sheet pan. Or a 9×13 dish. Either will work! :) Place bacon in a cold oven, then turn heat to 400. You don’t have to wait for the oven to preheat, go ahead and set your timer for 16 mins. After 16 mins, flip the bacon and bake for another 16-18 mins, or until done.  Quick. Easy. Painless. Not to mention crunchy & yummy! :)

While the bacon is baking, let’s prepare the zucchini. You’ll need 1 zucchini, or about 2 cups, diced. This summer I planted eight zucchini plants and ended up with more zucchini than any two people could ever possibly eat. So I just pick my zucchini as it’s ready, dice it, and freeze it in ziploc bags. Then when I get ready to use it, it’s all diced up and ready to go. Perfect!

Toss zucchini in olive oil, just enough to coat, add 1-2 cloves minced garlic, and plenty of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. I never used to grind my own pepper until I got this. Love it! Now I never use anything else.

Roast zucchini in an 8×8 baking dish at 400 degrees for 15 mins… You don’t need to spray it, there’s plenty of oil to keep it from sticking. Go ahead and toss it in the oven with your bacon after you flip it if ya want! :)

You’ll also need 3 ounces of shredded fontina cheese. Ooh. I forgot to measure how much that is. I would guess about a cup. I just get the deli to cut off a 3 oz block, then bring it home and shred it.

Now for the good stuff. Once your bacon has cooled, chop into bite sized pieces. Combine bacon, roasted zucchini, fontina cheese, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 egg, and more kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside while you whip up your béchamel sauce… :)

You’ll need just a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg… delicious! :)

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 1 tbsp flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 cup milk. Increase the heat to just above medium. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk a pinch each of salt, pepper, and nutmeg into your béchamel sauce. Perfect!

Pour the béchamel sauce into the bottom an 8×8 dish. I use the same dish I roasted the zucchini in. Top with 2 lasagna noodles.

I like no-boil, oven ready lasagna noodles. Plus these are perfectly sized for 8×8! Nevermind the weird waves. Not sure what that’s all about.

Top with the zucchini mixture…

2 more lasagna noodles…

And 1 cup of your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce.

Now for the really good stuff. Top with fresh mozzarella. I use smoked mozzarella when I can find it.. It gives the lasagna a wonderful smoky flavor. But… this time I couldn’t find it. I did find these mozzarella pearls though.

Very cool.

Aww. They’re cute.

Cover with foil bake at 400 for 20 mins.

Uncover, add a little more parmesan cheese on top, then bake for an additional 15 mins.

Until it looks like this.

Just look at those beautiful, crispy, golden brown and delicious bubbles of mozzarella.

*chomp*

If you can resist, let stand 10 mins before serving. It’s beautiful, cheesy, gooey and delicious! Enjoy! :)

© kevinandamanda.com, 2010. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

This fresh, colorful pasta dish is *perfect* for summer. The sweet, crisp bell peppers add such a wonderful flavor to the chicken and creamy alfredo sauce. The color and taste really bring this dish to life! :) Pour over some funky farfalle pasta and top with a little fresh basil if you’ve got some- this dish is definitely pasta perfection! :)

To start we’ll need…

1 lb chicken breasts (I used bone-in, skin-on chicken cause it was on sale- but you could definitely use boneless/skinless too)
9-10 bouillon cubes (or 3 tbsp bouillon granules- I like to use these because it’s easier than peeling the paper off 10 cubes! ;))
2 cups farfalle pasta
1/2 cup reserved chicken broth
4 tbsp butter, divided
1 cup half and half
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 red, 1 yellow, and 1 green bell pepper
6 leaves fresh basil, chopped

Let’s go ahead and get that chicken simmering- add your chicken and bouillon cubes (or granules) to a large pot and cover with 2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat for 20 mins, or until chicken is done.

While the chicken is simmering, grab one of your bell peppers and lop off the top and bottom.

Cut the remaining piece into 4ths, and cut out the seeds and membrane and stuff.

Until you’re left with 4 pieces that look like this.

Now take a piece and flatten it skin side up on your cutting board and cut it into matchsticks. Or french fries. Or “julienne” if you want to get all Food Network on me. ;)

Now since it’s just me and Kevin, and this dish serves 2-3 people, I only use about half of the peppers.

I put half aside to use and the other half in a ziploc bag in the freezer for when I need bell peppers again. They are good in the freezer for up to a year, but they never, ever last that long around here. ;) If you want to double this recipe, feel free to go ahead and use all the bell peppers- or save for next time like me. Because oh yes, trust me, there will *definitely* be a next time. ;)

When all your bell peppers are sliced and your chicken is done, remove the chicken to a plate to cool and go ahead and strain that chicken broth. (This probably would have been better done in the sink. ;)) Before I got this fancy wire mesh strainer, I was known to use a sifter… But don’t tell anybody that, ok? You’ll need 1/2 cup of the broth for the alfredo sauce and definitely *save* the rest of that broth! :) I freeze mine in 2 cup containers and pull it out whenever I make rice. Rice made with chicken broth is so-so-so-so good! :) (If you want to make rice like I do…2 cups broth, 1 cup rice, 1 tsp salt, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 mins. no more, no less. But that’s for another day. No rice in this recipe! ;))

Anyway! At this point, you’ll probably want to go ahead and get started boiling the pasta. Add 2 cups of farfalle pasta to a large pot and cover with  at least 1 quart of water. Add 1 tbsp salt and boil for 10 mins (or according to package directions). I rinsed out the big pot I boiled the chicken in and used the same pot for the noodles. I only have one big pot.

Now for the creamy alfredo sauce… Heat 3 tbsp butter and 1/2 cup of the reserved chicken broth to a sauce pan over medium heat until the butter is melted.

Then add 1 cup half and half- wait. Stop. I know. I know. Half and half?? Half and half?? It’s not really alfredo sauce without HEAVY cream. I know. But it’s bathing suit season people. Bathing suit. *shudder*. You can understand right? Besides- I’ve made it both ways and this sauce tastes *just* as divine with half and half. The heavy cream really only makes the sauce thicker, it’s not like using half and half changes the taste or anything. :p That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. ;)

After the half and half, add the minced garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and then slowly whisk in 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. Simmer over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally.

While the sauce is simmering, melt 1 tbsp butter over medium high heat.

Saute bell peppers for 5-6 mins, stirring occasionally until they’re crisp tender and look like this. :D

While the bell peppers are sauteing, go ahead and chop up that chicken, which should be cooled by now. But don’t forget to give your sauce and peppers a quick stir every now and then. :) Add the chopped chicken to the bell peppers, sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Turn the heat down to low, then pour the alfredo sauce over the chicken. Oh man- the sweet bell peppers bring out such a *sweet*, amazing flavor in the alfredo sauce! :) Not to mention it makes it pretty and colorful. :D Let it simmer to combine flavors while you drain and plate the noodles.

I like to put my pasta in a large bowl and toss with the chicken, bell peppers and sweet, creamy alfredo sauce. Tonight I topped it with some fresh genovese basil from my garden, since I had it on hand. Man, oh man was it good! :)

Make this tonight! You (and your bathing suit ;)) won’t regret it!

© kevinandamanda.com, 2009. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

I am *in love* with this simple, no-frills mac and cheese. :) My granny used to make this all the time- she knew it was my favorite and always had it ready whenever I came to visit. :)  It’s a delicious quick-and-easy side dish- no fancy or unnecessary ingredients, just pure, unadulterated mac and cheese. :D It’s definitely one of my go-to meals- I almost always have all the ingredients on hand- and the baking time / temp isn’t too picky so I can usually just pop it in the oven with whatever my main dish is. :)

The ingredients: noodles, butter, salt, shredded cheese and milk

Boil and drain noodles in salted water. Since it’s just the two of us, I boiled 2 cups of penne pasta. That’s enough for 2-3 servings as a side dish. Spray a baking dish with Pam and make layers of noodles, a healthy pinch of salt, and pats of butter.

Top with plenty of the good stuff- shredded cheese. My absolute favorite to use is colby jack.

Repeat layers of noodles, salt, butter and cheese until you run out of noodles. In my case I usually only make 2 layers. :)

Now the milk. The milk is very important, you don’t want to skip this step. :D Pour in the milk, about 1/2 cup at a time until your dish is about 1/3 full with milk. The reason why you want to do it a 1/2 cup at a time is because you want to give the milk a sec to settle before you pour more in so you don’t flood the mac and cheese with milk. Not that I’ve ever done that before. Tonight I poured in about 3/4 cup, and as you can see in the pic, the dish is about 1/4 full. I could’ve just gone ahead and poured in a full cup, but that’s ok. It was still good. :D

Bake, uncovered, in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes. If I were making this just by itself, I would do 400 for 30 mins. But usually I have something else occupying my oven so I just pop it in with whatever else I have cooking at the time. :) Anywhere from 350 – 400 degrees is just fine. :)

Oh, man, it’s so good. :) The perfect complement to any main dish. :D And in case you’re wondering, that’s Pioneer Woman’s Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs in the background. We both absolutely love them, they are so juicy and flavorful!! I make mine a bit different- I leave out the lemon and use a different seasoning than she does (I experiment every time!). I also cook mine for 20 mins on each side.

Speaking of seasonings, I love them. Tonight on the chicken, I tried 5, yes 5 different seasonings. I was going to do a taste test and see which one I liked best.

Montreal chicken, seasoned chicken, Greek chicken, chicken creole, spicy chicken… Guess what. I liked them all. I couldn’t decide. :P

© kevinandamanda.com, 2009. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

I love pasta. And noodles. And sauces. And cheese. And all of them mixed together. I could eat pasta every single day for the rest of my life. And be very, very happy.

I love this classic meal. It’s juicy, tender chicken breasts, lightly breaded in Parmesan cheese, golden fried, then topped with marinara sauce and soft, melty, mozzarella cheese. All served on a bed of pasta. And it’s delicious!

This recipe looks like it’s got a lot of ingredients, but most of it is stuff you’ve probably got in your pantry already.

Here’s what you’ll need for the breading. Flour, grated parmesan cheese, salt and steak seasoning (you can also just use pepper).

Whisk all ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.

Now get your chicken… BTW, have you seen this chicken?? Each breast is individually wrapped, so you can use however many you need and save the rest for later.

The best part is that they’re already pounded all nice, flat, and even.

Coat both sides of the chicken with the breading.

And then set it aside for a sec while we make…

The Marinara Sauce!

Begin melting 2 tbsp of butter in a medium sized sauce pan over medium to medium low heat. Add in 3-4 cloves minced garlic, stirring constantly.

My garlic was on steroids tonight.

When the garlic is golden and soft, pour in the tomatoes and add in the sugar. Increase heat to medium-high, bring to a simmer, then reduce heat back to medium-low, cover and continue simmering for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the sauce has simmered, stir in the cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. I used 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Cover and simmer for an additional 3 minutes, then lower heat and keep sauce warm until we’re ready for it.

While your sauce is simmering, let’s go ahead and start the noodles. Bring a large pot of water to boil and add 1 tbsp of salt. Then add your favorite pasta. Tonight I used angel hair pasta. But you could also use spaghetti or linguine.

Our sauce is simmering, our noodles are boiling, what are we missing?? Oh yes!! The perfectly Parmesany breaded chicken. This is going to be good.

Begin heating 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it is nice, hot, melted and brown.

Add your chicken breasts and cook 4 to 5 minutes each side until they are golden.

While the chicken is cooking you can chiffonade your basil and chop up the parsley for the sauce! To chiffonade basil, stack up 6-8 leaves, roll them tightly and thinly slice.

For parsley, you could just use a knife and chop it up, but I find it much easier to use my Pampered Chef chopper. It does the job for me. :)

You’ll want to keep chopping the parsley until you have 1 tbsp to add to the sauce, plus a little more for garnishing the chicken.

As soon as your chicken is done, remove to a plate, top with a little sauce and then sprinkle on mozzarella cheese.

You know what just occurred to me just now as I’m typing this? I didn’t top the chicken with sauce tonight.

Huh.

You know what? It still tasted amazing. lol. Oh well! So top it, or don’t top it with sauce, but either way you want to top it with cheese immediately so it’ll start getting melty.  Then sprinkle on a little parsley.
With the rest of the parsley and basil, throw it in the sauce, stir together, and serve over noodles placed next to the chicken. Top everything with an abundance of Parmesan cheese. For this is Chicken Parmigiana.

Then prepare to be worshiped.

For at least the rest of the evening.

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

Do you want the most perfect, flavorful, creamiest Alfredo sauce in the *entire* world? This recipe is seriously, the best. I could eat this every day. This is the perfect “for company” recipe when you want to serve a delicious dish that everyone will *love* and will super-impress your guests and have them all *begging* for the recipe. And it has a nice presentation on the plate!

I adapted this recipe from a recipe on the Sunday Baker’s recipe blog. She’s got a lot of really good recipes, check out her site when you get a chance! :)

Here’s how I make mine.. Let’s start with the chicken.

Rinse 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts in cold water.

Layer between 2 sheets of wax paper and pound until even thickness.

I almost always pound my chicken breasts, no matter what method of cooking, because if they’re even, they’ll cook more evenly *and* I think they make a better presentation. Culinary *and* cosmetic benefits! :)

Now for the marinade…

Ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice (mix together and let sit for 10 mins and this becomes a substitute for buttermilk)
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

Mix together milk, lemon juice, egg and garlic powder. In a perfect world, you’ll want to pour this in a ziploc bag with the pounded chicken and marinate in the fridge for 2-4 hours. However, I can hardly ever get my act together enough to marinate the chicken 2-4 hours before I eat so…..

Usually I just go ahead and put the chicken right in and let it hang out in there while I’m making the breading mix.

The Breading Mix…

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning

Whisk together flour, bread crumbs, salt, baking powder, and steak seasoning in a medium bowl.

Did you know that whisking produces the same texture as sifting? And it’s much easier! :)

Remove chicken from milk mixture, shake off excess, and coat both sides in flour mixture.

Now we’ve got all three of our chicken breasts nice and breaded. Let’s just let them hang out on this plate for a sec while we ready the noodles!

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 tbsp of salt.

When the water has come to a nice, rolling boil, add your favorite pasta. I like to use 1/2 lb of linguine noodles for this recipe. It’s the perfect amount for 2-3 adults. Cook according to package directions.

Now… The Sauce…

Ingredients:
1 scant cup chicken broth (Scant means “a little less than”. So “a little less than” 1 cup. You may also use white wine instead of chicken broth. I give you permission. ;))
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2-3 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
8 basil leaves, chiffonaded
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

In a medium saucepan, heat chicken broth over medium high heat, bringing to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and whisk in heavy cream, cornstarch, and garlic. Bring to a soft boil and whisk for one minute. Reduce heat to low, whisk in parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Let simmer for about 10 mins to melt cheese, let thicken, and incorporate flavors, whisking occasionally.

Meanwhile…

Add 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat.

We want to let the butter and oil get nice and hot before we add the chicken, so let it get all sizzley, then it’ll calm back down when the butter starts to brown:

When it looks like this, it’s time to add the chicken.

Let the chicken cook 4-5 mins on one side.

Wow! 3 pots at one time! I feel all professional and stuff! ;)

Back to the chicken.

After 4-5 mins, or when the bottom is nice and golden, flip the chicken to the other side and cook an additional 4-5 mins, or until the other side is nice and golden. :)

While the chicken is cooking, let’s chop our herbs. Now I just ran right over to my lovely neighbor’s beautiful garden and picked some fresh basil and parsley right from the ground! :) But if you don’t have access to your neighbor’s garden, you can buy fresh basil and parsley from the produce section of your grocery store. Usually they are hanging in bags on the wall. They are labeled and everything! Very easy. :) But, if you can’t find them, don’t let that stop you from making this recipe. Go ahead and try it without the herbs, I bet you’ll still love it. :) (Note: I would try to buy the basil on the same day you plan on using it. It tends to wilt quickly. Parsley lasts forever though. Okay, maybe a week or two. I haven’t really tested my theory.)

Oh right! Back to the herb chopping.

Grab 6-8 basil leaves

Roll them up tightly

And slice thinly with a sharp knife (I use a paring knife). Oh btw, I am using a cutting board, I’m not doing this straight on my counter! LOL. The cutting board is just clear, so you can see right through it. hah.

Now! We have some chiffonaded basil. Pretty isn’t it? :) Basil smells soooooo good.

Now let’s chop up some parsley.

You could just take a knife and chop up these parsley leaves, but…

I have this Pampered Chef chopper and it does the job for me, much better than I could ever do. :p

Keep chopping until you have about 1 tbsp of chopped parsley.

Now! At this time, everything should be coming together!

Go ahead and throw your herbs into the Alfredo sauce and stir well with a spoon.

Your chicken should be all nice and golden now.

So it’s time to put it all together.

A Parmesan cream sauce with a hint of garlic, served over fettuccine noodles and topped with a lightly breaded, golden fried chicken breast.

And if you feel like it, go ahead and pour some more sauce right over that chicken. It’s *de*licious.

This recipe as is serves 2-3 adults. If you’re serving more than that, you’ll need to double the recipe or adjust it accordingly. :)

Have fun and enjoy! :)

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

Have you tried the The Pioneer Woman’s Penne a la Betsy yet? I tried it a few weeks ago and Oh. My. Gosh.

It’s wonderful! The first time, I made it following her directions exactly and used shrimp. It was wonderful. I definitely wanted to try it again, this time with chicken. You could also leave out meat all together and this would make a scrumptious pasta side dish. The sauce, really, is to die for, I don’t know where Tomato Cream sauce has been all my life but now I’ve found it and I’m never letting it go again.

First, rinse your chicken breasts in cold water, then lay on some wax paper.

Cover with another sheet of wax paper.

And pound breasts with the smooth side of a mallet until even thickness.

You don’t want to get them too thin, you just want them to be even, so they’ll cook evenly. If you don’t have a meat pounder you could also use a rolling pin or the side of a can or something. See? Nice and even. :)

Season both sides of the chicken with Montreal Steak seasoning. This stuff is awesome and it’s good on everything.

At this point, you can either grill the chicken outside, or if you prefer, you can cook it in a skillet inside.

For Grilling…

Preheat grill for medium high heat, lightly oil grate (we spray with Pam for Grilling), and grill chicken breasts on medium high heat for 6-8 mins each side.

Or…

Heat 2 tbsp butter & 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter and olive oil is nice and hot, add chicken breasts and cook 5 mins each side.

You’re going to be slicing the chicken up later anyway, so it’s okay to go ahead and cut it right in half to make sure the chicken’s done. I always do! :)

Now let me stop you right here. This chicken is wonderful, flavorful and *delicious* just the way it is. I could eat this as a meal just like this. :D

But tonight we’re making pasta so we’re just gonna leave it on this plate and let it cool off for a bit, kay?

Let’s start making that pasta right now. In a large pot, add water and 1 tbsp salt. Bring to boil and add penne pasta and cook according to package directions. I usually dump in 1/2 of a 1 lb box of noodles and that’s plenty for the two of us. I made this for 4 adults once and I used 3/4 of a 1 lb box and that was perfect for 4 people.

Now. About that 1 tablespoon of salt. :) Salt water really brings out a wonderful flavor in dry pasta that you can’t get if you don’t salt your water properly. Noodles boiled in salt water? I could just eat ‘em plain, they’re so good. If I’m using a large pot (like for spaghetti) I add in 1 tbsp salt. If I’m using a small sauce pan (like for mac and cheese) I use 1 teaspoon. Here’s a good gauge: Taste test your water- it should taste like the sea- salt water! :) Try it, you won’t be disappointed. :)

Now… onto the heavenly, tomato cream sauce. :)

Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is tender, but do not let the garlic turn brown. This should take about 3-5 mins.

Add in 1/2 cup chicken broth and turn up heat to medium high.

Now, we’re gonna let this chicken broth reduce while we slice up our chicken. It should be cool enough to handle by now.

Slice it up!

Now let’s check on our chicken broth…

That’s what I call McSteamy! It is important to let your chicken broth reduce by half because if you don’t, the sauce will be runny and soupy. This looks good here, I could’ve left a little more broth in there, but whatever. :)

Pour in your tomato sauce…

And your cream… and try to make a psychedelic design, please.

Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and mix it all up.

Now taste it. This is important. :D

I ended up adding another 1/2 tsp salt and another 1/2 tsp pepper because it needed it. And then it was perfect. :D

Turn your heat to low and keep the sauce warm. We’re gonna go chop some herbs. Now, if you’re like me, you can just run over to your neighbor’s beautiful, lush garden and pick some fresh basil and parsley right off the bush. :D However, I realize not everyone is as fortunate as I am to have a generous, green thumbed neighbor with a beautiful, lush garden right next door. In that case, fresh herbs can be found in your grocery store in the produce section! They are in zippered, labeled bags and hanging up on the wall. Couldn’t be easier, and if you’ve never cooked with fresh herbs before you are in for a *treat*!!! The flavor is amazing, wow, oh wow. This dish alone could inspire you to start your very own herb garden. :) Oh, one more thing, I would try to buy the basil on the same day you’re going to be using it. It really is only good for a day or so, then it starts to wilt. Parsley, on the other hand, easily lasts a week. Probably more.

Okay. So. Whether they’re from a bag or a garden, grab 6-8 basil leaves, and stack them up:

Then roll ‘em up, as tight as you can:

With a good paring knife, slice thinly:

Til you have this! This is what’s called a chiffonade. We have chiffonaded the basil. :p

Now. Onto the parsley. Grab some parsley leaves… Okay, that doesn’t look like many in the pic. I probably used about twice what this picture looks like. lol.

Can you keep a secret? I cheat chopping up my parsley leaves. You could use the same paring knife you used on the basil but….

I use this. My Pampered Chef chopper. I love it. It works great. It does a better job than me. :p

See?

You need about 1 tbsp of chopped parsley.

When all your herbs are chopped, throw em in the sauce, and mix well.

Now, my camera must’ve gone AWOL at this point because I don’t have a pic, but anyway, drain your noodles and pour them in the sauce. Stir until all the noodles are coated. At this point, you could go ahead and stir your chicken in too, or…. for a cool presentation….

Serve the noodles on a plate and top with sliced chicken:

Are you hungry yet? :D

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

Oh. My. I just tried this recipe from Becky Higgins and OH MY. It is seriously the most flavorful, most AMAZING tasting pasta I have EVER had!!! Beats ANYTHING I’ve ever had at Olive Garden HANDS DOWN. And it was soooooooo super amazingly easy, you MUST try this. ASAP. I was simply stunned at how *flavorful* it was!!! And how all the flavors were just went together perfectly!! I’ve had this recipe for several weeks now and I cannot BELIEVE I didn’t make it sooner!! I am kicking myself!!! I will be making this *all the time*. Next person to come over to my house will get this. Becky Higgins’ must be a culinary *genius*!!!! ;)

Okay, enough with the teasing, and onto the recipe!!!! I’m posting the recipe exactly like she has it on her webpage, but read afterwards for my slight adjustments. But trust me this thing does NOT need to be adjusted much!! :)

16 oz. Farfalle pasta
1 c. heavy whipping cream
3-4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed OR garlic salt (I do a spoonful of crushed garlic)
1 Tbsp. pepper*
1/2 c. butter
1 lb. bacon, crumpled**
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (12 oz) Lawry’s mesquite marinade with lime juice

*Seems like a lot of pepper, but it has a wonderful flavor when everything mixes together. If you’re apprehensive, do less pepper. You can always add more.

**We like to cook our bacon in the oven (400 degrees, convection). Way less messy. And it’s crispy every time. Time varies, so you just have to watch it. I think it’s usually around 30 minutes. Allow to cool and then crumple (I totally wear disposable gloves for this part – surprise, surprise).

[ directions ]

Crock pot chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6 hours. Pull marinated chicken out of the juices, allow to cool a little bit, and shred (I pull it apart). Set this aside. About a half-hour before serving, boil the pasta. In a small saucepan, melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, pepper, parmesan cheese, and crumpled bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour over cooked, drained pasta, add chicken and stir through. Sprinkle a little bit more shredded parmesan cheese on top.

Okay, my adjustments…

• If this were my recipe, I’d call it Spicy Chicken Farfalle. :D Or something like that. All the flavors of this pasta are simply amazing. Have I said that yet?
• My crockpot died on me, so I google’d it, and the oven temperature equivalent of a crock pot is 200 degrees. So I cooked my chicken (since it was just me and Kevin, I only used 2 chicken breasts) in the oven for 6 hours at 200 degrees and it was juuuuuuuust perfect. I also made it 2 days in advance and just refrigerated it until I was ready to make the pasta. I heated the chicken up in the microwave for 1 min before mixing it in with the pasta. It turned out just fine, it was not dry at all.
• 16 oz of pasta makes a tooooooooooooooooooon!!! Definitely enough to feed *at least* 4 adults. Next time, if it’s just me and Kevin, I’m definitely cutting the pasta down to 8 oz but leaving everything else the same. Except for the rest of my adjustments below. :D Oh and boil your pasta with ONE TABLESPOON of salt. Yes I said it! 1 whole tbsp!! It’s one of those hidden secrets that no one ever tells you that can really add that “secret ingredient effect” to your dish. But I am telling you now so try it. Trust me. ;)
• Okay, she warns you about the pepper, and I really do like pepper but MAN! She ain’t lyin’!!! lol. I used the whole tbsp like she said, and it wasn’t so peppery it was ruined, but it might’ve been for those who don’t like pepper. I DO like pepper and next time I’m cutting the pepper back to a half tbsp, and then taste testing it right before I mix everything together to see if I want to add more.
• The bacon adds this *amazing* taste to the pasta like you would NOT believe, so don’t skimp on the bacon and don’t use bacon bits!! lol. They just won’t do! ;) The trick to frying bacon in a pan is to cut your bacon in half and cook on loooooooow to medium low heat (on my electric stove which ranges from 1 – 9, I put it on like 4) and just watch it. It takes a loong time but when one side starts to get brown, flip it over and do the other side. Just keep on checking it. lol. Make layers of bacon and paper towels on a plate until you’re all done. I fry up a lb at a time on the weekends and freeze it and use it whenever I need it. I pulled out about 16 slices to make this pasta and heated them up in the microwave for 1 min. They weren’t too crispy, so I couldn’t “crumble” them, but I sliced them up with a big knife and they did just perfect. :)
• I love cheese so I used more like 1 cup of cheese in the sauce. :D And remember, it calls for *shredded* Parmesan cheese, which is not the same thing as grated Parmesan cheese that comes in a cylinder like you put on spaghetti. Shredded Parmesan cheese comes in a bag like next to the shredded cheddar cheese. Publix didn’t have the shredded Parmesan cheese, so I got one of those 6 cheese Italian mixes (finely shredded) and it was wonderful. I ate a couple handfuls just plain. Oops, did I say that outloud.

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!