Garlic Pesto Chicken Pasta

This past week I have been busy cooking. I can't wait to share these new recipes with all of you!

My husband John and I LOVE Noodles & Company. It has been one of our go to places for many years. This is where we fell in love with pesto. If you haven't had the Pesto Cavatappi, you need to go get some right now!

Okay, okay I'm just joking! You won't have to rush and get it when I give you this recipe. It is just as good as Noodle & Company's Pesto Cavatappi and a little easier on the wallet if you are feeding a family.


What You'll Need

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 chicken breasts, sliced into ½-inch strips

2 tablespoons garlic

½ tablespoon kosher salt

½ tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

¾ cup heavy cream

½ grated parmesan cheese

¼ cup pesto

3 cups penne pasta, cooked and drained

¾ cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Parmesan cheese to garnish

First off- Buitoni is our favorite pesto to use. We love to mix it in with a bag of cheese tortellini...MMMmMm..

We usually find it at HyVee or Wal-Mart.

As you might have seen in one of my previous posts, I really like to get HyVee's marinated chicken breasts. They make them in a lot of different marinates. These parmesan pesto chicken breasts are great. This recipe is delicious with regular chicken breasts also.

 

 

Besides pasta and garlic, this is all you really need. Super easy!

 

 

 

To start off I boiled my pasta, drained and set aside.

 

Heat canola oil in a pan. Slice chicken breasts and add to hot oil.

 

Add garlic and salt & pepper ( I only added 1 tsp of pepper)

 

 

I had a special guest in the kitchen with me :)

(I might have caught him off guard)

 

Once chicken is cooked, add in the heavy cream.

 

Next, mix in parmesan cheese and pesto sauce.

 

Bring sauce to a boil and cook until sauce has reduced, about 7 to 8 minutes. Toss pasta into sauce mixture and stir until evenly coated. Add in sliced tomatoes.

 

 

Head on med to low for 5 minutes.

 

Make sure you remember to taste test!

 

Put on a plate and sprinkle with parmesan cheese then Enjoy!

 

 

 

Husband Rating: A-

 

 

 

Recipe credit to Buzz Feed. For original recipe see link below

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alvinzhou/try-this-one-pan-garlic-chicken-pesto-pasta-dish-for-dinner?utm_term=.qt5ARBjla#.fhRK2jLXO

If you are enjoying my blog, please let me know by becoming a follower! It means a lot! :)

 

 

Make sure you stay tuned! Tomorrow I am going to work on my post for the Lasagna Poppers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberry Cream Puffs

Welcome Back Friends!

One thing you will soon learn about me is that I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I stumbled across this yummy Strawberry Cream Puffs recipe and let me tell you, they are delicious!  I'm just going to get right into it!

A little warning - these are time consuming. It took me around 2 1/2 to 3
 hours from start to finish. But the end result is worth it!


What you'll need

1 cup flour

3.5 oz milk

3.5 oz water

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

5 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

4 eggs

Filling

2 cups (heavy cream

1⁄3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Fresh strawberries, cut into slices

**YOU WILL ALSO NEED A COUPLE PASTRY BAGS WITH A LARGE 1/2 INCH ROUND TIP & A SHIFTER**

We got these neat measuring spoons for a wedding gift. Perfect for a pinch of salt!

Preheat oven to 350°

 In a saucepan bring the milk, water, sugar, salt and butter to a boil.

Remove from heat and add flour all at once and mix with a wooden spoon.



Return the saucepan to low heat and while stirring cook for 1 to 2 minutes to pull out the moisture out of the the batter. The recipe says you will start to see the dough pull away from the sides of the pan (I didn't notice this).

Transfer batter to a large bowl and allow to slightly cool. I let the dough sit for about 10 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, carefully incorporating each into the batter using the wooden spoon or a stand mixer. You will end up with a smooth batter.

Fit a pastry bag with a large 1⁄2 inch round tip and pipe the dough into circles on a parchment paper. I chose to use my silicone baking mat instead of parchment paper. Also, I have been getting my pastry bags from the Dollar Tree. They work great and you can't beat the price of $1.00.

Bake for 25-­30 minutes until browned and puffed. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

While your puffs are cooling, slice up your strawberries. We love to get our strawberries at Sam's Club. This big container was only around $5.00!

 In a large bowl whip the cream with an electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks.

Add sugar and vanilla extract and mix to combine.

Fill pastry bag with whipped topping.

Cut the cream puffs in half and fill them with cream mixture.

Add strawberry slices.

 

Dust with powdered sugar.

        And then most importantly, ENJOY!

Store left overs in the fridge. Good for 3-4 days.

Husband Rating- A


Recipe credit to Tastemade - For original recipe see link below
https://www.tastemade.com/videos/strawberry-cream-puffs



**Stay tuned- My next post will be a recipe I tried out last night, Garlic Pesto Chicken Pasta...It is my copy cat version of Noodle & Company Pesto Cavatappi.

Don't forget to follow my page for the latest updates!

Lasagna Chicken

Parmesan chicken has became a delicious staple in our house. There is just something so tasty about cheesy chicken baked in marinara sauce with a heaping fork full of noodles. When I saw this recipe, I knew we would really enjoy it.

I have to say, if you have not tried Hy-Vee aisles online to order your groceries, you are really missing out! Our usual grocery shopping day used to be Sunday afternoons, which was usually about the time everyone else in town was shopping. I can sit in bed, sip on some coffee and order my groceries. Then the magical part. You pull right up in front of the store and they bring your groceries right out and load them into your car. You are there 2 minutes tops. ONLY 2 MINUTES! It blew my mind.

What you will need for this recipe:

2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup ricotta cheese
3 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 ½ cups marinara sauce
1 ounce parmesan cheese, shredded

Last Sunday while I was doing my normal online grocery shopping, I stumbled across these marinated tomato basil chicken breasts. I thought they would be perfect for this recipe.

The only down side to these chicken breasts were their shape. When I unwrapped them, I noticed they were more long then round shaped.

Preheat oven to 400°

You start by cutting the chicken breasts from one end to the other, almost all the way through. Note that the chicken breasts I got were a little weird shaped, so I couldn't cut down the middle of the whole chicken breast.  Open the chicken breasts up.

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then spread the tomato paste on one of the chicken breast halves.

 Spread the ricotta on top of the tomato paste, then a layer of mozzarella cheese. The recipe called for fresh mozzarella, but I decided to just use up the shredded mozzarella I had in the fridge. When I make this recipe again, I will probably use fresh mozzarella, as it will make it more cheesier, and you can't go wrong with more cheese!

Close the chicken breast and insert toothpicks through the chicken breasts to seal the top and bottom together.

Place the stuffed chicken breasts on the baking sheet or in a casserole dish. If you place them in a casserole dish, put a small layer of marinara on the bottom of your dish before you place your chicken breasts in. Then pour more marinara over the breasts and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes.


While chicken is baking, boil some spaghetti noodles or make some yummy garlic bread.

Once chicken is done, Enjoy! :)

Husband Rating: A-


Recipe credit to Buzz Feed - For original recipe see link below

https://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/4-very-easy-ways-to-cook-boneless-skinless-chicken-breast?bffbfood&utm_term=.orL98kG42#.jspdKOBQ5


Until next time! :)

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