Ingredients:
- 1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)
- 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
- ½ cup cubed chicken breast (uncooked; bite-size pieces)
- ½ cup diced onion (any type of onion you prefer)
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (I substituted this with marinara sauce)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (I omitted this)
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup bread crumbs (Italian bread crumbs add extra flavor)
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
- About 1 Tablespoon of butter
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain and put into a large mixing bowl.
- Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 3 minutes (until chicken begins to brown). Stir in the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through. *I added about a ¼ cup of the dry white wine as the chicken, onion and garlic sautéed for extra flavor, and continuously seasoned the combination with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Add the chicken mixture into the cooked pasta. Add the marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, parsley, and season more if needed. Stir to combine.
- Place mixture in a 8x8x2 inch baking dish that you can either butter or spray with cooking spray, such as Pam. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese evenly over the pasta mixture. Dot with small bits of the butter.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top of the mixture is golden brown.
*Note- Instead of chopping fresh garlic cloves, I use ready-to-use chopped garlic. It’s much easier sometimes.
*Note- you can always omit the chicken for a vegetarian dish or choose another type of meat of your liking.
Picture thanks to Catherine Morgan
www.catherine-morgan.com
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of fettuccine pasta
- 1 stick of butter
- 4 oz of cream cheese, in other words half of a block (stick with regular, not low-fat, it’s definitely worth the extra calories)
- A handful (or few) of freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (NOT KRAFT BRAND)
- A small container of Vitamin D milk (a pint)
- Italian seasoning
Instructions:
- Start cooking the fettuccine.
- While the fettuccine is cooking, melt the butter in a small saucepan.
- After the butter is melted, add the cream cheese and whisk together until it’s creamy.
- Add about a 1/4 cup of milk at first and a handful of parmesan and whisk until the cheese is melted.
- Taste the sauce and add either more Parmesan and/or milk until it tastes good and it’s a smooth and creamy consistency.
- Add a dash of Italian season, mix it in and pour on top of the cooked fettuccine.
- Enjoy!
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