Okay, so this little "Magic Pot" I have been using for the past 3 weeks, is my newest BFF in the cocina (kitchen). I love not turning on the oven and how quick these recipes are. It is a Pampered Chef product, one of the many, many, many that I own. I don't sell the products, but I am thinking that maybe I should! Lol! I love of their products! It is a love affair that began years ago. I remember the first Pampered Chef party I hosted at my apartment while my oldest daughter was still taking up residence inside my tummy. I have been a MAJOR PC fan for the better part of 13 1/2 years. I will share some of my favorite old school PC recipes soon! YOU WILL LOVE THEM! Today, I made the Grilled Penne Al Fresco, with a few twists. That is the wonderful thing about cooking, you can almost always adjust things here and there according to your tastes and dietary needs. So the first change I made was using quinoa pasta, as I try to cook gluten free as much as possible. Next thing was, I had to use dried basil instead of fresh and I had no Chardonnay, so that part was completely omitted. Last, I didn't grill my chicken, I just cooked it up all regular in my sauté pan. Oh, well! I do have to say though, that despite these changes, I was really happy with the flavors of the dish and LOVED the fact that it was done in a flash!!!! The full ORIGINAL recipe is below, sans my changes. Hope you like it!
Grilled Chicken Penne Al Fresco
4 peeled garlic cloves
2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
3 cups uncooked mezze penne pasta
3 cups chicken broth
¾ cup Chardonnay
½ tsp each salt and ground pepper
1 ¼ cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves, divided
¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups diced grilled chicken breasts
Spray Deep Covered Baker with olive oil using Kitchen Spritzer. Slice garlic into baker using Garlic Slicer. Add tomatoes. Cover; microwave on HIGH 4-5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to burst, stirring after 2 minutes. Crush tomatoes using Mix 'N Chop. Add pasta, broth, wine, salt and black pepper.
Return baker to microwave; cover and microwave on HIGH 10 minutes. Stir and microwave on HIGH 7 more minutes. Meanwhile, coarsely chop basil with Chef's Knife. Reserve 2 tbsp for garnish.
Carefully remove baker from microwave and remove lid, lifting away from you. Add remaining basil, cheese and chicken to baker; mix well. Garnish with reserved 2 tbsp basil, additional Parmesan cheese and black pepper if desired.
Yield 8 servings: Calories 240, Total Fat 2.5g, Saturated Fat .5g, Cholesterol 25 mg, Carbohydrate 35 g, Protein 17 g, Sodium 450 mg, Fiber 2 g.
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So the first thing I did was used my PC Garlic Press and used it to crush the garlic. Then I put it in the microwave for 2 minutes and removed it so I could crush the tomatoes using the Mix n Chop. |
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So , this is one of my most used kitchen tools, the PC Mix N Chop. I normally use it when cooking ground beef to break it up into small chunks. Using it in this recipe was an utter disaster!!! Tomato juice and seeds are all over the sweater I was wearing. I recommend just chopping the tomatoes before putting them in the microwave to avoid this disaster! |
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Okay so this next step calls for adding the chicken broth and pasta, wine, salt and pepper. I added some dried basil at this point. |
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Here are my cooked chicken breasts which I sliced and added to the finished pasta. |
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The last part is to add the chicken, parmesan and fresh basil...which I will for sure be using next time, along with the Chardonnay. I will add it to the dish and then directly to my glass! ;) Anyways, mix it and enjoy! |
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This really was a wonderful dish and took a total of about 25 minutes!!!! |
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I am trying to figure out how to add fonts and backgrounds and stuff to make my pics look all cute and fancy......so far, all I have to use is my iPhone...lol. I need to read a blogging for dummies book or something! |
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