Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Pasta with Easy Alfredo Sauce

Hope you all are having a wonderful "First Day of Spring"! Here in Chicago it feels anything but Spring- it's currently 4 degrees.


Everyone has their go-to pasta dish- veggies, protein and a sauce. I made an "everything but the kitchen sink" pasta on Monday night after a long day. It was quick, delicious and extremely satisfying!

Pasta is a great way to use leftovers or aging vegetables. My broccoli was approaching a week old and I had leftover chicken from a dish I made over the weekend. I added sun dried tomatoes to add color, sweetness and add a bit of pizzazz to the dish and served it over a bed of rigatoni.

The special homemade feature here is the simple alfredo- no roux needed!



Pasta
Rigatoni
Chicken
Broccoli
Sauteed onion
Sun dried tomatoes
Toasted Pine nuts
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
Garnish with Basil

Saute onion and broccoli in a large deep pan. Use a lid to help cook the broccoli while the pasta boils and you prepare the sauce. Add cooked pasta and remaining ingredients to the pan. Add alfredo and toss until combined. I use red pepper flakes in a lot of dishes to cut the savoriness and add a kick to the dish.
Alfredo
4 oz unsalted butter
1 c. milk or cream
1 c. freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
2-3 minced garlic cloves

In a small saucepan, add butter and garlic over medium- high heat. Lightly brown garlic and add milk/cream to pan. Use cream if you want a thicker sauce, however I had milk in the house (and by house I mean 700 sq.ft. apt) so that's what I used. Add cheese and whisk into butter and milk mixture. Whisk until cheese is combined into the sauce. Add alfredo to pasta and combine with all ingredients.

I'm pretty sure mincing garlic is my least favorite thing to do in the kitchen- besides cleaning. I use a garlic press, saves time and avoids large chunks (because usually I am not patient enough to get it completely minced).

What is your "go-to-pasta"? How would you have made this dish differently? I'd love to hear from you, and would LOVE it if you would become a member!

And by the way- didn't Maegan have some great posts?! If you didn't catch them, click on the following links- Beer Batted FishVeg Pot Pie


Thankssss!

Mary

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