Chicken Breasts w/ Penne & Garlic & Herb Tomato Sauce

Happy weekend everyone!

We'll be headed to Lexington, KY this evening to take part in a Kentucky Food Blogger event hosted by Kate from Simply Nutritious by Kate.  She just moved in to an awesome studio kitchen where she teaches a variety of health-focused classes.  I'm definitely excited to check it out and see what she's whipped up for us!

Anyway, this is one of those simple and delicious dinners.  You can choose to get canned diced tomatoes if you'd like, but if you want to put a little extra love into it, I highly suggest getting some vine-ripened tomatoes, peeling, seeding, and cutting them.  It really isn't THAT much more time-consuming.  =)

Ingredients:

Tomato Sauce:

1 small onion, small diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons flour
6-8 vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded, & roughly chopped (juice reserved)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cloves of garlic, mashed
cheesecloth sachet filled with parsley stems, bay leaf, and black peppercorns
pinch of fennel seeds
pinch of saffron
pinch of ground coriander
zest from 1 orange
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons tomato paste

Penne Pasta

2 chicken breasts, skin on
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

The longer your tomato sauce sits on the stove, the more flavor that will develop.  However, it only needs about 30 minutes to be finished, so don't fret that you don't have time =)

In a medium stockpot, cook the onions and olive oil under medium low heat until the onions are translucent, about 8-10 minutes.

Stir in the flour and cook for about 2-3 minutes, until a slight roux is formed.

Add in the tomatoes, tomato juice, sugar, garlic, sachet, fennel, saffron, coriander, and orange zest.  Cover the pot and raise the heat to medium.  Cook for about 10 minutes to the tomatoes will release more of their liquid.  Remove lid and let simmer for at least 30 more minutes, adding water if sauce becomes to thick or risks burning.  Stir in tomato paste for deeper color and let simmer for about 2-3 minutes.  Remove herb sachet and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add penne and cook until al dente.  Drain, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water.

Heat a large oven-proof skillet under medium high heat and melt butter.  Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.  Add chicken, skin-side down to pan and cook until skin is golden brown, about 4-5 minutes.  Turn chicken over and transfer pan to oven to finish cooking, about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts.  Let chicken rest for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Add pasta to tomato sauce, adding additional pasta water, if necessary.  Toss until pasta is well-coated.  Place a decent amount of pasta on plate and top with sliced chicken and garnish with chopped parsley.

A little effort goes a long way.  This tomato sauce has floral and citrus notes that compares to no other.  Andy said it was one of the best pasta sauces he's ever had.  Score!  Hope you guys try this soon =)  Have a great weekend!

Shortcut Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo

How was everyone's weekend?!  Ours was pretty good.  Well.  Besides the fact that we froze our butts off on Saturday.  Seriously, 40F?! 

And I know what you're thinking, if it was so cold, why were you outside Peggy?  Well, it was Thunder Over Louisville this past Saturday.  What exactly is that?  Well, it's one of the biggest fireworks shows in the United States and the masses gather outside for an all day event (tons of street food, an air show, a Bats baseball game, FIREWORKS, etc.).  It's definitely great people-watching material.  Seriously... the people of Kentucky really come out.  We won't get too into it, but just sayin'.  Entertainment is everywhere.

I took a video of the fireworks finale (it's kind of shaky because I was FREEZING) but I'll post it tomorrow to give you guys a taste of what the fireworks are like.

Anyway, about this meal.  I remember when I was a kid, my mom would make "alfredo" using a can of Campbell's Cream of (insert whatever you want here: chicken, mushroom, celery, etc.)  Not an authentic "alfredo" by any means, but I think most moms took this shortcut every now and then.  Am I right? 

So I decided to bust this out to remember what this was like.  And I made a few changes, just to jazz it up and it came out pretty tasty.  I definitely prefer an actual homemade alfredo to this, but it's definitely a quick fix that hits the spot in a hurry!

Ingredients:

12 oz. package of penne pasta
1 large broccoli head, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lb. of chicken (you could really use any part here, breasts, thighs, drumsticks - I had drumsticks in the freezer so I just skinned and boned them, and then cut them into cubes), cut into cubes/strips
10 & 3/4 oz. can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.  Mine took about 10-12 minutes for a nice al dente.  Add broccoli to pasta during last 4-5 minutes of boiling.  Drain pasta and broccoli well and return to pot.

In a large skillet, melt butter under medium high heat.  Add chicken pieces and cook until browned and cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the chicken part that you use).

Mix in soup, milk, parmesan, and cayenne.  Season mixture with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour mixture into pot with penne and broccoli and bring mixture to a boil, about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.   

Serve pasta hot and top with additional shredded Parmesan, if desired.

See... easy right?  It's good for a quick meal.  I'm not ashamed to use those condensed soups.  I mean, there's just some things from childhood you just can't give up, right?

Have a great Monday guys!  Be back tomorrow for some firework action!