The Fall of the Mozzarella

As I browsed around on Pinterest while I should have been working I found some fantastic recipes I wanted to try and my first attempt was last night with Chicken with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Mozzarella.

The original recipe called for Chicken tenders, I was a rebel and chose Ground Chicken. It also said you could use only 2 tablespoons of oil from the Sun-dried tomatoes. This was false. Not enough oil and things started to stick. AGH! The horror. I was going to try to be healthier because the recipe called for half and half and I thought maybe I can use Greek Yogurt but I said nope not happening. All the fat is going in. You only live once!

Below is my rendition of the recipe I hope you enjoy it as much as me, Roosevelt and his mom did!

Chicken with Sun-dried Tomatoes & Mozzarella Ingredients:

1 box of Whole Grain Penne Pasta

1 cup of half and half

1 cup of mozzarella

Two large leaves of fresh basil broken into little pieces

Crushed Red Pepper for a spicy NINJA kick

Paprika for a wee bit of color and smokiness (a dash or two should do it)

2 Squeezes of fresh Garlic Paste (two tablespoons)

4 Ounces of Sun-Sundried Tomatoes

1 Pound of Ground Chicken Directions:

Put 2-3 table spoons of olive oil in a nonstick pan with the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes , saute until garlic is aromatic and the sun-dried tomatoes are evenly coated about 2-3 minutes. Remove the sun-dried tomatoes

Put the pound of ground chicken in to the still hot pan add a little more oil to coat the pan and saute the chicken until browned.

Once browned add the sundried tomatoes (make sure to cut them up into smaller pieces unless they are precut) and paprika and also make sure you have the pasta boiling away because you need to reserve 1/2 a cup of the pasta water for the sauce because it gets super thick and creamy.

After this add the half and half and the mozzarella and stir until there are no more lumps throw in fresh basil at this time as well.

Ground chicken mixed with Basil, Cheese, and Half and Half

Once the cheese has melted and sauce has thickened up add the pasta and water and stir it in to evenly coat everything. At this time you can also sprinkle however much crushed red pepper you can handle.You may want to use a large pan than I did because the pasta was busting at the seams 🙂