Skillet Chicken with Tomato Cream Sauce

I don't often have accidents in the kitchen. Ryan would say I have the uncanny ability to "destroy the kitchen", but it's usually a pretty safe environment. However, today, I had a bit of a stupid moment. I'm not exactly sure what I did, all I know is that as my onions were simmering away, I went to add the chicken broth to the pan and next thing I knew my arm spasmed?...or perhaps something made me jump. Regardless what happened, the next moment I was covered head to waist in warm chicken broth. I can only imagine what it must have looked like, luckily though I will never know because I was the only one around to witness this embarrassment.
So, anyway, once I cleaned up from my "incident" I proceeded to finish cooking. Despite the mishap, this was actually a very easy to prepare. The sauce comes together quickly with just a few simple ingredients, and the chicken is pounded thin which also cuts the cooking time in half. You can serve in on top of any thin pasta such as spaghetti or angel hair pasta. The original recipe called for heavy cream, but I chose to use fat free half and half to cut calories, and I also used whole wheat pasta. I will definitely be making this recipe again,  but hopefully without any mishaps next time.

Skillet Chicken with Tomato Cream Sauce
Adapted from: About.com 

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 cup chicken broth, divided

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

3/4 cup fat free half and half (or heavy cream)

1 cup fresh shredded Parmesan cheese, about 2 ounces

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 boneless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 ounces angel hair pasta or linguine or spaghetti, cooked and drained

1. For sauce, saute the chopped onion and garlic in olive oil until softened. Stir in 1/2 cup chicken broth, wine, basil, and parsley. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cream, Parmesan cheese, and tomato paste. Continue cooking until the sauce is hot and cheese has melted.

2. Wash chicken and pat dry. Place between sheets of plastic wrap and gently pound until uniform in thickness. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the chicken in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth, cover, and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add tomato cream sauce, cover, and cook for 4 to 6 minutes longer, until chicken is cooked through. Serve with hot cooked pasta.

Serves 4.

Chicken Pesto Lasagna Rolls

I know what you may be thinking. This dish looks like it might be a lot of work. I thought so too, but it's actually pretty simple. I came across this recipe at Foodie Bride a couple of weeks ago. Since pesto is my new favorite thing, I thought it would be a nice change from traditional lasagna, and a little lighter too. However, I put off making it right away because I thought it would be really time consuming. As it turns out, these lasagna rolls came together much faster than traditional lasagna. If you cook your chicken and shred it before hand, everything else comes together very quickly while your oven is preheating. Also, to shorten the process, I skipped the white sauce from the original recipe and just used more pasta sauce instead. This dish smelled great cooking in the oven and tasted even better once it was on the table. You can serve this with a garden salad and definitely some garlic bread. You'll need the bread to soak up all of the yummy sauce and cheese.

Chicken Pesto Lasagna Rolls 
Adapted from: Foodie Bride

1 cup shredded chicken

1 15 oz container of ricotta cheese (I used low-fat)

1/2 cup homemade or store-bought pesto sauce

6 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained (I used whole-wheat)

1 cup of your favorite pasta sauce, divided

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Place 1/4 cup of pasta sauce in the bottom of an 8x8 pan.
3. In a bowl, stir together the chicken, ricotta, pesto, salt, and pepper.
4. Spread 1/3 cup of the ricotta mixture over each lasagna noodle and roll up. Place the roll in the prepared pan. Repeat for the remaining noodles.
5. Spoon the remaining pasta sauce over the lasagna rolls and top with mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until hot, bubbly, and the cheese begins to brown.

Makes 6 servings.

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells

You will need to be careful with these. These shells are so delicious and perfectly bite-sized that you may have to physically stop yourself from eating them. Like I had to. This recipe from Joelen is super simple, albeit a little time consuming to fill all of the shells. It was completely worth the effort. I couldn't find the really jumbo pasta shells, so I used the biggest shells I could find, which are just the large shells - I think. I used about 2 cups of shells so whatever size shells you find, about 2 cups should do it. I did have a few leftover, but a few of them ripped so it all worked out. I served a green salad with ours to balance all the cheesiness...and to keep myself from eating the whole pan.

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells
Adapted from: Joelen

2 cups large pasta shells
water for boiling pasta

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
4oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese + 1/4 cup for topping
3 tbs prepared pesto

3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

1. In a large pot over high heat, boil water and prepare pasta shells as directed on package. Cook pasta shells only until al dente. The pasta will finish cooking when the dish is baked. Drain the pasta shells and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, except the 1/4 cup of cheese for the topping. Fill the pasta shells with the filling and place in a baking dish.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over filled shells. Sprinkle with panko breadcrumbs.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake shells uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until shells are bubbling hot and cheese melts.


Cajun Chicken Pasta

Before our little munchkin came along, my husband and I used to go out to eat for nearly every meal. Yeah we were those people. I tried planning to cook, but we almost always ended up going out anyway. Now that I'm a stay-at-home mome, we are only able to go out a few times a month, so I've spent alot of time trying to recreate some of my favorite restaurant dishes in the kitchen. I found this recipe over at The Pioneer Woman, and it reminds of the Cajun Pasta from Red Lobster that I looove. It's not quite as creamy as the restaurant version, but it has a lot of spice and flavor. As with any homemade dish, you can control the ingredients to make it healthier, so I use low-fat heavy cream (when I can find it) and whole wheat pasta. If you haven't yet made the switch to whole wheat, pasta is a great place to start. The taste and texture are virtually the same, and it is much much more filling than regular pasta. You can adjust the spices to your liking, but be careful of your men in the kitchen...mine kept coming in and adding more spice to his liking. Needless to say, ours was super spicy.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Adapted from: The Pioneer Woman

2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts,cubed
3 teaspoons Cajun Spice Mix, More To Taste
1/2 box of whole wheat linguine
2 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Tbs Butter
1/2 Green Bell Pepper, Seeded And Sliced
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, Seeded And Sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 can Chicken Broth
½ cups White Wine
1 cup Heavy Cream
Cayenne Pepper To Taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
Salt To Taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain when pasta is still al dente, and set aside.
2. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun spice over chicken pieces. Toss around to coat. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook until done. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a clean plate, leaving pan on high heat.
3. Add remaining olive oil and butter. When heated, add peppers, onions, and garlic. Sprinkle on remaining Cajun spice, and add salt if needed. Cook over very high heat for 1 minute, stirring gently and trying to get the vegetables as dark/black as possible. Remove all vegetables from the pan.
4. With the pan over high heat, pour in the wine and chicken broth. Cook on high for 3 to 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Reduce heat to medium-low and pour in cream, stirring/whisking constantly. Cook sauce over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Add vegetables back into the pan, and cook the sauce for 5-8 minutes until the cream starts to thicken the mixture. Add in chicken.
5. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, and/or salt to taste. Sauce should be spicy! Add drained linguine and toss to combine. Let sit for 3-5 minutes before serving. Sauce will thicken upon standing.

Makes 4 servings.