Marinara Chicken and Pasta

This is from the Pioneer Woman Linguine with Chicken Thighs.  I didn't have linguine so we used Farfalle pasta.  And I let the sauce simmer for about an hour while we were at soccer practice then forgot to add the cheese, parsley and basil but it was still delicious!

Ingredients

1 package Linguine (or Your Favorite Pasta)
Olive Oil
8 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
1 whole Small To Medium Sized Onion, Chopped
3 whole (to 4 Whole) Garlic Cloves, Minced
1/2 cup White Wine (or Chicken Broth)
2 cans (15 Oz. Can) Crushed Tomatoes
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste
1 tsp Sugar
Fresh Parsley, Chopped, to taste
Fresh Basil, Chopped, to taste
Parmesan Cheese To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and place the dry linguine noodles into it. Cook them until al dente (tender firm).

Begin by cutting up the chicken thighs into small pieces. Heat a large skillet until very hot and then generously drizzle in some olive oil. Swirl to coat the pan, then add half of the cut up chicken to the pan, spreading them out as you put them in. NOTE: Do not begin stirring the chicken immediately as you want to get them nice and brown.

After a minute or two, flip over the chicken with a spatula. Then let it brown on the other side. After it’s brown, remove it to a plate and set aside.

Repeat with the second half of the chicken pieces, remove from the pan and set all of the chicken aside.

Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil into the hot pan and throw in the chopped onions and the garlic and give them a stir.

Now add the wine (or chicken broth), whisking to deglaze the bottom of the skillet. Cook until the liquid reduces by half.

Add the two cans of crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the chicken (and don't forget all of those yummy chicken juices), to the tomato/onion mixture and continue simmering for another 15 minutes. Toward the end of the cooking process, chop up your fresh parsley and basil and add it to the sauce, stirring to combine.

Place pasta on a platter or in a large bowl and smother with the sauce. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Greek Lemon Chicken

My attempt at duplicating our favorite Greek restaurant takeout.

Greek Lemon Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

Cut each chicken breast into large pieces (maybe 3 or 4).  Combine other ingredients for marinade and pour over chicken.  Let chicken marinate for at least 1 hour.  Grill and serve with saffron rice (we use Mahatma brand).

Cajun Chicken Pasta

This is my simplified version of a Jambalaya recipe from the Neiman Marcus Cookbook.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

1 cup Marinara sauce

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Cajun spice (or more if you like it spicy)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2-3 grilled chicken breasts or 7-8 large chicken tenders grilled and sliced

1 16 oz pasta cooked and drained (we usually use penne or farfalle)

In a large nonstick pan combine the marinara sauce, chicken broth, heavy whipping cream, Worcestershire sauce, and Cajun spice.  Simmer for half an hour.  Cook pasta in salted water and drain (reserve some of the cooking liquid to thin out the sauce if you need to).  Add the hot pasta to the sauce but before stirring it in sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the pasta so it melts and sticks to the pasta which helps the sauce stick and thicken as well. Stir pasta and sauce to combine.  Add chicken into pasta mixture or serve on top or on the side.

What We Eat on a Weeknight

As much as I would love to try a new recipe every night, right now that's just not happening.  So, here are a few of our regular go-to recipes.  Hopefully some of you will share your go-to recipes with me! (this post is a work in process, eventually I'll have links to all of those listed below).

Greek Lemon Chicken with Saffron Rice (Mahatma brand)

Crunchy Parmesan Chicken and Campanella Pasta

Chicken Potpie

Red Sauce Chicken and Rice

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Pesto Chicken Pasta

Marinara Chicken and Pasta

Chicken Noodle Soup

Three Pepper Beef with Brown Rice

Steak with Orzo

Hamburgers and Oven Fries - slice potatoes into french fries, place into a ziplock bag and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme.  Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes or until crisp.

Roast Beef Sandwiches - Kaiser rolls buttered and toasted, provolone cheese, and roast beef (sliced and cooked with a little onion and worcestershire sauce).

Easy Empanadas

Turkey Pesto Sandwiches - Sourdough Bread, sliced turkey breast, pesto, provolone cooked in a panini grill

Island Tacos

Beef Taquitos

Apricot Glazed Pork

BBQ Ribs or Chicken and Dutch Oven Potatoes

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

The cupcakes my sister had at her wedding, delicious!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

Ingredients
1/2c unsweetened baking cocoa
1 1/3 c brown sugar
1c + 3TBS cake flour
1t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c butter, melted
1/2c buttermilk
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2t pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup nutella
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cup boiling water

Directions
Preheat to 350°
Line cupcake pans with liners and set aside.

Sift together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

In a stand mixer, mix the melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, nutella, sour cream and hot water until well combined.

Add dry mixture to wet, and mix until just combined--careful not to over mix.

Bake in lined cupcake pans for 18-20 minutes

Cool completely before frosting.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

1/2 cup diced onion

2 carrots diced

2 stalks celery diced

2 cups chicken  - diced/shredded (can be raw or cooked, I think roasted chicken on the bone tastes the best)

1/3 cup flour

6-8 cup chicken broth (I like to use a mix of Better Than Boullion and boxed broth)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp thyme

1 bay leaf

1 Tbls butter

1 Tbls olive oil

Homestyle Noodles  (Amish Country brand found at Walmart)

Heat 1 Tbls. olive oil and 1 Tbls butter in a large pot.  Add onion, carrot, and celery.  Season with salt and pepper and saute until tender.  Add chicken (if raw let it cook through) to vegetable mixture and season with a little more salt, pepper and thyme.  Add flour and stir to coat vegetables and chicken.  Add chicken broth and bay leaf.  Let soup simmer for 30 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper if needed.  Add cooked noodles to soup.  Serve.

Crunchy Parmesan Chicken and Campanella Pasta

My boys love this as long as the chicken is extra crunchy!  I have my easy version (where I just coat the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture) and the more time consuming version of dredging in flour, dipping in egg wash, and coating the chicken in breadcrumb mixture.  The chicken turns out great either way.

1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
6-8 chicken tenders or 3-4 chicken breast cut up and pounded out to same thickness

Combine panko, parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in a shallow dish.  If you are doing the easy version, just coat the chicken in this mixture.  If you want the other version, lightly coat the chicken in flour, then dip in egg wash, and then coat with breadcrumb mixture.

In a large non-stick skillet, combine butter and olive oil and heat over medium.  When oil/butter is hot dip one side of chicken in and then flip it over on the other side (that way you don't have to add more oil and butter to cook the other side of the chicken).  Continue this method with the rest of the chicken.  You  may have to do two batches depending on the size of your pan and amount of chicken.  When one batch is cooked through, remove from the pan and then add another tablespoon or two of oil and butter and start again.  Once all of the chicken is done, leave the pan with the dripping and use it for the pasta recipe below.

Campanella Pasta
8oz campanella pasta
1/4 cup grated parmesan
16oz can whole tomatoes, chopped using blender or hand chopper (reserve juice from can)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Cook pasta according to directions on package.  Once cooked, drain and then add to pan used to cook chicken.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese over hot pasta and then add chopped tomatoes, sugar, basil, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine and use reserved tomato juice to thin out sauce if desired.