Quick Parmesan Pasta with Chicken
7:35:00 PM
Sometimes, you throw together something from leftovers and
have few expectations from it. When I made this dish, I was just hoping for
edible. What I ended up with something I call Parmesan Pasta with Chicken, and it's really good—my husband had some critiques (we need
to add a little spice)—but he had seconds. So did I, as well as one of the
twins. The other twin had 4 helpings and I finally cut her off. The
four-year-old wouldn’t touch it at first, but after some coaxing decided it was
ok—I think since it looked different she decided she didn’t like it. My husband
asked that I make it again—extremely high praise for a reworking of leftovers,
I would say!
The star ingredient: low or non-fat evaporated milk. If you are craving something creamy, but don’t want so much
fat, this is the way to go!
12 oz very small pasta—also called pastina—I used stelline, but orzo would work too
1 cup of small chopped vegetables—I used carrots
1 can lowfat or non-fat evaporated milk
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (I used leftover sticky chicken)
2 oz sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped and drained drained + 1
tablespoon of oil
1 cup shredded parmesan (or other cheese of choice)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Put on a medium pot of water to boil. While water is heating to boil, heat
the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes over medium high heat in a medium pot or
skillet. Saute vegetables in oil until crisp-tender.
Lower heat of vegetables to medium-low. Add pasta to boiling water in the other pot and cook until done according to directions on the box. Add milk and chicken to vegetables. Simmer (do not boil) until thickened slightly. Add sun-dried tomatoes, stir to combine.
Turn off heat. Add drained pasta and cheese. Stir to combine. Because of the small size of the pasta, it has more surface area to stick to the sauce, so don’t panic that your sauce looks runny before the pasta and cheese is added. It should thicken up quickly.
Lower heat of vegetables to medium-low. Add pasta to boiling water in the other pot and cook until done according to directions on the box. Add milk and chicken to vegetables. Simmer (do not boil) until thickened slightly. Add sun-dried tomatoes, stir to combine.
Turn off heat. Add drained pasta and cheese. Stir to combine. Because of the small size of the pasta, it has more surface area to stick to the sauce, so don’t panic that your sauce looks runny before the pasta and cheese is added. It should thicken up quickly.
My husband suggested that for grown-up tastes, it could use a little
more spice. I would add either some ground mustard or maybe some paprika. If
you combined everything in an oven-safe skillet, you could toss some
breadcrumbs on top and brown it under the broiler for a couple of minutes, too.
Just a heads up: if you are using larger pasta, you will probably have
to cook your sauce down for longer or add a thickener.
Like I said, this was a big hit at my house—a pretty good use of
leftover chicken. I think this meal took less than 15 minutes from start to
finish—no more than 20 minutes! Enjoy!
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14 comments
This looks like a great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting (again) Cathy. So glad you stopped by!
DeleteI wish I had luck with reworking leftovers. Looks good!
ReplyDeleteFollowing you from Six Sisters and would love to have you come by and join up our Weekend Blog Walk at At Home Take 2. http://www.athometake2.blogspot.com.
Jessica
Jessica, I have to rework leftovers. If they looked like leftovers, I would be the only one eating them! :-)
DeleteYummmm!!!! I'm going to have to try this. Thanks for sharing! I'm always looking for new recipes.
ReplyDeleteThis parmesan pasta with chicken looks so yummy! We appreciate you linking up with us!! It's so fun to see all of the great ideas and recipes! We hope to see you back again soon! -The Sisters
ReplyDeleteOH YUM... wish I had some
ReplyDeleteI think this would be a hit in my house! Pinning to try out later!
ReplyDeleteStopping by from Mom Trends!
Let me know if you try it out! I'd love to hear if someone else had success with the recipe!
DeleteThis looks soooo yummy! Not sure if my kids (or hubby) will touch it if they see the sun-dried tomatoes, but I love them. I might just have to try this one here.
ReplyDeleteTricia, you may try cutting up the sun-dried really finely, or just tell the picky ones to pick them out! I think it adds a depth of flavor that can't be beat!
DeleteI think leftover turkey could be used in this recipe, too. Thanks for another idea!
ReplyDeleteMmm this looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteThis looks awesome! I pinned it so I can save it for later! :)
ReplyDelete