30 Minute Weeknight Meals: Pasta Pomodoro

As a child, my favorite meal was spaghetti. I ordered spaghetti from Bob's Big Boy, spaghetti from Ihop, wouldn't agree to a family outing unless spaghetti was on the menu, and celebrated every birthday at The Spaghetti Factory. As I grew older, I started to experiment and fall in love with other pasta dishes [which is why there are so many variations on my site, I will switch it up soon I promise], and Pasta Pomodoro remains one of my favorite to date.

This dish is light, yet fulfilling with or without the addition of meat. Don't let the simplicity of the ingredients and this recipe fool you, it is highly flavorsome. If you're looking for a quick, delicious, healthy weeknight meal that can be prepared on a budget, try this on for size!

I recommend using fresh Parmesan Cheese in lieu of the powdered variety, or even Parmigiano Reggiano if you want to splurge. Also I find that fresh tomatoes work much better versus canned tomatoes. I actually took the recommendation of one of the reviews and purchased Campari Tomatoes instead of the Roma Tomatoes the recipe called for. The substitution of Campari Tomatoes made for a rich, fresher tasting sauce. 

 

Pasta Pomodoro [Adapted from All Recipes.Com]

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages angel hair pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups Campari Tomatoes, diced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 (10.75 ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth

crushed red pepper to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Pour olive oil in a large deep skillet over high-heat. Saute onions and garlic until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium-high and add tomatoes, vinegar and chicken broth; simmer for about 8 minutes.
3. Stir in red pepper, black pepper, basil and cooked pasta, tossing thoroughly with sauce. Simmer for about 5 more minutes and serve topped with grated Parm cheese.

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In The Kitchen: Chicken Tagilatelle with Mushroom & Brown Butter Sauce + Giveaway Winner Announced!

The winner of the Wasijiru Giveaway is: Empress! She says;

I wear my confidence like the soul of my ancestors. I am strong, confident, and full of pride in who I am as a woman, mother, fiance, and daughter, and friend.

Empress, please email me at nikole@themoptopmaven.com with your full name and address to claim your prize! Thank you to everyone who entered, as well as our sponsor Wasijiru! 
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Step away from your computer screen if you happen to be on a hard core diet. This recipe contains butter, more butter and honest to goodness heavy cream in large doses. - I made this dish for my mom and sister and it was gone before the sauce had time to cool off. This is a very simple dish to make that yields an authentic rich, creamy and intensely flavorful sauce. The key to brown butter sauce is making sure the butter is cooked long enough so that the moisture evaporates leaving a mass of flavor and richness that even the most finicky of eaters would appreciate. 

I found the recipe for this dish on some random Australian website. The directions were pretty vague so I winged it as I went along taking notes in case the recipe was a hit. Aside from it being a definite hit, this recipe is perfect for a quick, substantial weeknight meal. Prepping the ingredients to plating the dish took about 30-40 minutes. Not bad when you consider the yummy payoff! 

Chicken Tagilatelle w/Mushroom & Brown Butter Sauce [Adapted Loosely From Black Olive]

Ingredients: 

1 Large Portobello [or 2 regular] Mushroom/s [thinly sliced]

2 Large Chicken Breasts [chopped/uncooked]

1 Medium Brown Onion

1 Cup Dry White Wine 

1 box Tagliatelle pasta

1 Pint Heavy Cream

2 Large Garlic Cloves [crushed]

3 Teaspoons Fresh Thyme [finely chopped]

3 Teaspoons Fresh Basil [finely chopped]

3 Tablespoons Butter

1 Bunch of Italian Parsley [roughly chopped]

Directions: 

• Place a large pot of salted water on to boil.
• Chop onions and saute' them in a pan with the butter on medium heat. Add the crushed garlic and chicken, and cook until brown; this may take up to 10 minutes
• Add wine, then bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the mushrooms, then season to taste with salt, ground black pepper, and fresh herbs. Cook until the liquid is reduced in half; this may take about 5-10 minutes. 
• Once the reduction is made, add cream as well as parsley and cook on medium-high heat until the mixture reduces in half again and resembles a thick, creamy sauce; this may take anywhere from 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the pasta into the boiling water and stir until it floats freely. Cook for approximately seven minutes, or until al dente, then drain.
• Add the drained pasta and stir through until coated evenly

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Chicken Florentine

This recipe gets TWO THUMBS UP. I would literally have this meal several times a week if the sauce wasn't so rich. I would put on a good 3-5 pounds a week easy. I may try a low cal version of this recipe, but then that may not be as fun. We will see. This is one of those recipes that is super easy to make, and would convince anyone that you were a chef extraordinaire.

Of course I made a few [quite a few] changes to this recipe; for starters I used fresh Spinach instead of frozen, I wanted a bit more texture so I also added roughly chopped Portabello Mushrooms. I added some freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano as well for a slight kick, and to play off the earthy aftertaste from the mushrooms. I also added chicken stock which balanced out that taste that white wine tends to lend to certain dishes.

You can serve this over rice, eat as is, or serve on a bed of noodles

Chicken Florentine Recipe [Adapted From Giada De Laurentis Recipe]

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons shallots, sliced
4 tablespoons chopped portabello mushrooms 
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan reggiano
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock 
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen cut-leaf spinach, thawed, drained

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour to coat lightly. Shake off any excess flour. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until brown, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep it warm.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots, mushrooms and garlic and saute until the shallots are translucent, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, about 1 minute. 

Add the wine and chicken stock. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil until the liquid is reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Add the cream as well as parmesan cheese, and boil until the sauce reduces by half, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the sauce, and turn the chicken to coat in the sauce. Let sit for 4 minutes, then remove from heat. Remove chicken, set aside, and cover.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in another large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and saute until heated through. Season the spinach, to taste, with salt and pepper. Arrange the spinach over a platter. Place the chicken atop the spinach. Pour the sauce over and serve.