GARLIC PARMESAN PASTA with CHICKEN & MUSHROOMS

Ihave lost count of the number of times I've made this recipe in the last one year. It is such a favorite amongst us and I even made it this time when I went home. Our little ones love pasta and even we enjoy it when made well. There are somedays when Ian & Zara asks me to make this particular dish. They both LOVE mushrooms so much that I think they sometimes eat this just for the yummy mushrooms that goes into this dish. It's very easy dish to make and they make great leftovers too!

You just need a few ingredients and by that I mean, pretty rich and tasty ingredients to pull this together. I made this for our annual Christmas party last year for the kids because most kids that we hang around with love pasta. And I still continue to make this very frequently for my own. Ian loves it so much that he asks me often if I've noted down the recipe somewhere so that he can recreate it when he grows bigger. Zara makes sure that there's enough of mushrooms in the bowl of pasta that I give her.

Growing up, I disliked everything about mushrooms. I think it was because of the way it was made...in it's whole form. I like them sliced thinly and sautéed in some butter or olive oil along with some salt and pepper until they reduce in size and turn brown in colour. That flavor is SO good! Now, whenever we go out and if I am ever in doubt of what to order...if there are mushrooms on the menu, then there's no looking back! I love adding them even to my Risotto, which is another much loved dish by the children. I found this recipe on Alyssa's blog and decided to toss some pasta along with it . Best decision ever!

GARLIC PARMESAN PASTA with CHICKEN & MUSHROOMS
Serves 4


Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breast / thighs, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & Pepper
8 ounces white / baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced

Creamy Garlic Parmesan sauce:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream or half and half
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper powder
1 cup spinach, chopped
8 ounces pasta of your choice, cooked al dente*

Method: In a bowl,sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.In a large skillet on medium high heat, heat olive oil and cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes until they are golden brown on the outside. Remove onto a plate and set aside.Into the same pan, add the sliced mushrooms and saute well adding a pinch of salt and pepper till it reduces in size and turns brown. Remove onto a plate and set aside.

To make the sauce, add the butter to a pan on medium heat and when it melts, add the minced garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the flour and mix well to cook for another 30 seconds. Add the heavy cream, chicken broth, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook stirring till it begins to thicken. Add the spinach and cook until it wilts, 30 seconds.
Add the cooked pasta, reserved chicken & mushrooms and toss well to mix. Serve hot!

* Reserve about 1 cup of pasta cooking water, incase you need to thin out the sauce later.

For this recipe, you can use bottled grated Parmesan cheese or you can grate your own. It doesn't make that big of a difference. I've tried them both since I've made this dish way too many times already! I always use homemade chicken stock because it's pretty much a staple in our fridge. You can use storebought as well. I haven't tried substituting it .You can serve the chicken not just with pasta but alongside buttered rice, toasted bread, mashed potatoes etc. I started with pasta and it's stuck with pasta forever I guess! ;-) I hope you try this and enjoy it as much as we do!

CHORIZO, MUSHROOM & ROASTED GARLIC RIGATONI

This pasta dish is a staple in our house. I've always made it with Chorizo because it's one of my favourite things to eat and cook with.When you pair it with a Ragu Pasta sauce,it's even better!I sometimes fry them and serve it alongside rice and it kind of takes the place of Beef Ulathiyathu.If you have never tried it, you should. It's a pork sausage with a lot of spice in it.It's delicious and makes everything that you make with it taste awesome!There are two kinds of Chorizo,fresh & dry. I like to use the fresh ones and you can use it just like how you would use a ground meat.

I rarely buy pasta sauces but when I do, I prefer to buy Ragu. It's such a well balanced sauce and it's not overtly tart. Some bottled sauces are so tart that you really wouldn't know how to fix the dish in the end. I used Ragu's Roasted Garlic Pasta sauce because I do have a weak point for roasted garlic,for that matter everything with garlic in it. I don't mind if the sauce is chunky or smooth. This roasted garlic sauce was made chunky.

Assunta made the voyage from Italy to America with a little something extra up her sleeve,her family's recipe for tomato sauce - a secret and sublime combination of vine-ripened tomatoes,fresh basil,fennel,garlic and ground pepper,meticulously writing down every detail and hiding it for safe passage.She must have known she was onto something when the neighbour's raved about it. Then the neighbour's neighbours. Word spread and when people in Iowa started grabbing it off the shelves,well,the legend was off and running.

It wasn't easy,Assunta grew up in a man's word during America's toughest time -the Great Depression.And in a time when people expected less,she gave them more. When people were forced to put their hoped,dreams and aspirations on the back burner, Assunta placed hers directly on the front burner.Her recipe literally became the recipe for her success...Thus, Ragu pasta sauce was born! Hundred of pasta sauces have graced the shelves over the past 80 years, but only one has become America's number one.

Ragu pasta sauces are made with farm grown ingredients and contains no artificial flavours or high fructose corn syrup.

CHORIZO,MUSHROOM & ROASTED GARLIC RIGATONI
My own recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 fresh Chorizo links,case removed
1 small box button mushrooms,cleaned and sliced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 box good quality Rotini pasta
1 1/4 cups of Ragu Pasta Sauce ( Chunky Roasted Garlic)
Fresh parsley
Salt & Pepper

Method:
In a medium sized pan,on medium high heat, saute the crumbled chorizo till it starts to release it's oil. Add the mushrooms and onions and saute till all the water from mushroom dries up. Add the pasta sauce to it and cook covered,on medium heat for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile,cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box.Do not drain the pasta.
Check the sauce for seasoning and set aside.When the pasta is done,using a slotted spoon,add the hot pasta directly into the sauce and mix well.Check for seasonings.Garnish with chopped parsley and serve hot!

If you want to thin out the sauce,you may use the pasta cooking water for the same.

This is a good one, try it someday. I am sure you will like it. If you are planning to use ground meat instead of chorizo,make sure you season them accordingly. Chorizo is very very flavourful!

There is a sweeps contest running on Food(dot)com. The contest is titled Ready. Set. Cook! and it challenges home cooks to create new and unique recipes featuring Ragu sauce plus a set list of other ingredients! Click here for more details!

GRILLED CHICKEN & PESTO FARFALLE

Have I ever told you how fond I am about Basil Pesto?I really,really love it! Infact,I've been craving so much for a Grilled Chicken & Pesto Cheese Sandwich lately and I made that along with this pasta dish and we both, Ian & myself enjoyed every morsel of it. I find sandwiches make a great finger food for toddlers that they can munch on it doand do whatever they want at the same time. I hardly have a liking for wholewheat /multigrain bread as is but once they are grilled or toasted with some butter, I am more than happy to eat them up! So that's the bread we have at home most of the time, so that Ian gets used to everything other than just white bread.

So much talk about sandwiches when this post is all about a humble pasta dish!

I enjoy making pasta at home because it is fuss free yet super delicious.Have you seen my award winning Mini Cheese Pasta Rolls & Parmesan and Macaroni Chicken Salad with Roasted Peppers? Pasta is very adjusting. It just absorbs the flavour of whatever sauce you toss them with. I rarely use bottled pasta sauces because its calorie laden and all I can think of while eating it would be about the aforementioned thing.The only one that I would use is a Marinara sauce because I don't know if I can make a good one at home.Maybe,someday I will!

This time, I used a bottled Pesto because my Basil plant is dead due to the extreme cold weather.This dish is super quick and can be packed and taken along with you for a picnic (I am already thinking of Summer!),sent as a lunchbox item of your kids or even for yourself at work! I used Farfalle / Bow tie pasta for this recipe because the sauce coats very well on pasta with ridges. You can also use Penne if that's what you prefer.

I am so glad that I am finally able to find sometime to cook, photograph and blog about it. I don't know how often I'll get to do it but I am keeping my fingers crossed because it is such a pleasure to cook,photograph and then talk about what made me cook it. Life of a food blogger! Or maybe I should rephrase it...Life of an accidental food blogger.I never knew what I was getting into 5 years ago. These days,every food blogger knows what they are getting into. They are well planned...unlike me!

GRILLED CHICKEN & PESTO FARFALLE

My own recipe

Ingredients:

16 oz Farfalle

1 cup pesto

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

1/2 cup pasta water,from cooking pasta

3 boneless skinless chicken thighs

Salt & Pepper

3 tablespoon sundried tomatoes,in oil

a small handful of parsley,chopped

Method: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously. Add the pasta into it and cook according to the package directions. I always do an extra minute because I like a little more softer pasta.

Meanwhile, salt and pepper the chicken on both sides and grill it on an indoor pan until done, about 3 minutes per side.Cut them up and keep aside.

In a large sautepan, heat the pesto,red chili flakes and cream until hot but not boiling. Add the pasta and toss well. Add the 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water and mix well to form a nice thick sauce. Add chopped sundried tomatoes,chopped grilled chicken, parsley and serve hot!Adjust seasonings if needed.

This is one good pasta dish! It's very flavourful and refeshing.This is like a piece of summer in the dark cold winter.You can easily cut back on the chicken and serve it as a veggie side dish. Better yet, keep aside some vegetarian pasta and then top the remaining with chicken and serve it to both vegetarians and non vegetarians!! See, I'm always thinking as to how to find shortcuts in the kitchen! :) Ian enjoyed munching on these and he could help himself since it wasn't too saucy or sticky enough to make a mess.Jobin gave me a 5 star rating for it and that seals the deal!
Here's some more that might be to your liking:

VANILLA - APPLE FRANGIPANE TART : An out of the world delicious apple tart. It has a buttery crust filled with an almond paste and topped with thinly sliced apples. If you haven't tried this recipe yet, it's high time you did.Or else, you are really missing out on something very good!








30 LAYERED CREPE CAKE : This make ahead dessert has 30 layers of crepes filled with a delectable Nutella Ganache. A winner hands down! Wow your guests with this stunner and reap the compliments for your hardwork!

BISCUITS AU BEURRE FAUX :

Fake butter cookies which are just melts in your mouth. These are very easy to make,easy on the wallet and makes perfect gifts this season!