Chicken with Sun-dried Tomatoes

It's very rare that I try a new recipe that totally wows me.  This was definitely an exception.

I cut this out from a magazine, but I can't remember which one.  I think it was in a Campbell's Soup ad.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp oil
4 chicken breasts
1 shallot or onion, finely chopped
1 can (10.5 oz) Cream of Mushroom Soup
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
4 cups egg noodles, cooked

Directions: Cook egg noodles according to package directions.  Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook 5 minutes each side.  Remove chicken from skillet, cover with foil.

Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add shallot and cook for 2 minutes.  Stir soup, water, tomatoes, vinegar and basil into skillet.

Return chicken to skillet and heat to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cook 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.  Serve chicken and sauce over noodles.

A few notes: I did this with 2 large chicken breasts, if I were to do 4 breasts, I would have added a cup or so more of water or chicken broth.  I used dry basil and dried onion.  Do not leave out the red wine vinegar, I think this was the ingredient that really brought it all together.  I think this would have been good too had I cubed and browned the chicken instead of serving it whole.

Spaghetti Pie

 
I got this from my friend's blog.  The original recipe is here, her blog has pictures of each step.  This is my version of her recipe:

1 lb spaghetti noodles
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
1 lb ground beef or pork
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
Italian seasoning
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4-1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 egg
3-4 tbsp butter
Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350*.  Cook the spaghetti noodles according to directions.  When they have 3-4 minutes left to cook, drain them, return to the pot and add the egg and butter.

While the water boils for the spaghetti, cook the minced garlic in the olive oil over medium heat.  Do not let the garlic brown.  Add the pork or beef, season to taste, and cook until browned.  Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and italian seasoning.  Add salt/pepper to taste.  Let simmer until you are ready to put everything together.

Mix the cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese in a bowl.  Pour the noodles into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.  Layer the cheese mixture on top.  Pour the meat sauce over the cheese mixture.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.  Bake in a 350* oven for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is browned.  You can finish it under the broiler if you like.

This was a fun and easy twist on spaghetti/lasagna.

Cheesy Pasta

The original name of this is "Cheesy Spirals" but I used Penne pasta, so I changed the name :)  This recipe is so easy and the kids loved, I was so sad I haven't tried it before now!

Ingredients:
16 oz pasta
1 lb ground beef
onion
garlic
28 oz spaghetti sauce
1 10.5oz can cheddar cheese soup, undiluted
italian seasoning
pepper
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Cook the pasta until right before "al dente".  Brown the ground beef with some onion and garlic.  Add the spaghetti sauce and cheddar cheese soup.  Stir until it is uniform throughout.  Add the italian seasoning and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat, add 2 cups of mozzarella cheese.  Mix in the pasta and put it into a greased casserole dish.  Bake in the oven at 350* for 30 minutes. 

You can also freeze this before you bake it.  Then thaw it and bake at 350* for 40 minutes.

Next time I'll try throwing in some veggies.

Double Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I got this recipe out Rachael Ray's magazine (October 2009 issue, pg 110)

Serves 4
Prep 30 min
Bake 50

1/2 cup small shell pasta (I only had elbow so that's what I used)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped parsley (I used a bit of dry instead)
Salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup breadcrumbs
4 eight to ten ounce chicken breasts (I used boneless skinless, so I "stuffed" them differently I cut a pocket in them and stuffed them.)
3 cups store bought marinara sauce (I used homemade that I had frozen.)


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I used foil). In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta for 4 minutes; drain and rinse with cold water. Transfer to a bowl and add the mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup parsley. Season with salt.


2. In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs. Place the breadcrumbs in another shallow bowl.

3. Stuff the pasta-cheese mixture under the skin of each chicken breast.

Dip the stuffed chicken breast in the eggs, roll in the breadcrumbs, then place skin side down on the prepared pan. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted in the breast reads 165 degrees, about 50 min.


4. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat the marinara sauce. Serve each breast on a bead of sauce, topped with 1 tablespoon parsley.