Posts tagged Pasta

Wahoo! My favorite day of the week (after Sundays and okay maybe Saturday mornings). Are you all ready for Wine Night? I’m going to be in Chicago this weekend, so we’re planning on some serious family time tonight (accompanied by the second season of Dawson’s Creek and Skinny Girl Wine).

Make this for your Wine Night tonight! This is a classic go-to Wine Night recipe for us. It is so, so, so good. 

Spicy Chicken Rigatoni

Adapted from here (I took out the peas. Not a fan of those guys.)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb. Whole Wheat Rigatoni Pasta, cooked al dente
• 1/4 C. Olive Oil
• 1/2 T. Crushed Red Pepper
• 1/8 t. Salt
• 1/8 t. Ground Black Pepper
• 3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 6 oz. Chicken (Uncooked), sliced
• 1 1/2 C. Bertolli Parm Rosa Sauce (or use 1/2 C. Alfredo and 3/4 C. Marinara)
• 2 t. Butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add red pepper, salt, black pepper, and garlic. Saute until peppers and garlic flavor the oil. (Watch it closely! It can burn easily).
2. Add sliced chicken and coat evenly in spices and oil.
3. Add sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened and chicken is cooked through. Turn off heat and add butter.
4. Add pasta along with a few T. of the pasta cooking water (this helps it all stick together). Toss until combined.

(I don’t even want to know how many calories are in this. Not posting the nutritional info on this one.)  

Enjoy!

{photo by me taken with Instagram)

I’m keen on making little things into a big deal.  For example: Take-Out on the couch and a movie?  OMG we can call it Movie Night and set a theme!  

Therefore, it’s no surprise that for as long as we’ve lived together, we’ve had Thursday Night “Wine Night”.  I make a pasta dinner and we drink wine and relax and gear up for the weekend.  We try to put all work, chores, and phone calls aside and just sit as the two of us (okay three of us) and spend some quality time together.  

Every Thursday, I’ll be providing you with a recent wine night recipe I’ve made so that you can make it yourself and have a little Wine Night of your own.  (Note: Wine Night is dramatically enhanced if you eat and drink while watching “Modern Family” or anything that the geniuses at Bravo create).

This week, I present you with Lightened-Up Fettuccini Alfredo.  I made a few tweaks to this recipe (mostly in procedure) and it came out great (and about 300 calories per serving!)

Lightened-Up Fettuccini Alfredo

Adapted from Eat Yourself Skinny

INGREDIENTS

• 1 box (13 oz.) Dreamfield’s Linguine Pasta
• 2 C. Skim Milk
• 1 C. Low-Sodium Chicken Stock
• 4 T. All-Purpose Flour
• 4 Cloves of Garlic
• 1/2 t. Salt
• 1/4 t. Black Pepper
• 1/4 t. Nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
• 1/2 C. Grated Low-Fat Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta until al dente. 
2. While the pasta cooks, in a large sauce pan (something large enough you can add the pasta to later), whisk together milk, chicken stock, 3 T. flour (save 1 T. for later), salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Heat over low, stirring frequently until thick. Note: make sure to really scrape the bottom when you stir, you don’t want the milk to scortch. 
3. Grate in the garlic cloves using a micro plane.
4. Add the last T. of flour and the Parmesan cheese and stir until thick. 
5. Drain the pasta (do not rinse it!).  Save some of the cooking liquid in case you need to thin out the sauce. 
6. Add the pasta directly into the sauce and cook a few more minutes until it all combines and the pasta is evenly coated.

NUTRITION

• Servings:  6
• Calories:  298
• Carbs:  18
• Fat:  3
• Protein:  14

Enjoy!

{photo by me on someecards and my iphone}