This was delicious! I love all things pesto, and was pleasantly surprised how tasty this dish was - at first I thought it might be "too dry", but not so, as the flavour migrated into the pasta and chicken. In fact it was a nice change for a pasta recipe to have texture as opposed to being ozzing with sauce. Leftovers were just as delicious the next day. I used half and half cream, sprinkled some parsley and more parm cheese on top, and served it with peas.

Reviewed On: Dec. 1, 2009

I don’t know, this didn’t turn out very flavorful for me and I used herbed tomatoes to provide some added seasonings. In all fairness, the type of natural rice I used took 40 minutes to boil and that may have been the problem. Agree that the addition of peppers may make a difference as well.

Reviewed On: Dec. 1, 2009

This is outstanding yet so simple! I haven’t been real pleased with the result of any manner of roasting beef cuts for awhile, especially any larger than 2 or 3 lbs, so thought I’d give this recipe a try using a new standard sized crockpot I’d recently purchased. I think my old crockpot was too large and I’ve now come to believe the size of the crockpot in relation to the size of the roast is the true key to perfection. It seems the roast needs to fill the crockpot to about 1/2 to 2/3s so by the time its cooked its completely immersed in the gravy. My 5 lb roast turned out just perfect - juicy and fall apart with a fork tender! As others suggested, I did a few things differently by prebrowning/spicing up the roast, used one can of low sodium mushroom/one golden mushroom soup, and low sodium beef broth instead of water, along with dry garlic/onion soup, plus added a spoonful or so of worchestershire sauce, 3 garlic cloves and 2 bay leaves. After the roast was cooked I removed it and mixed 2 tbsp flour with enough water to make a paste and added that to the gravy and cooked on high for about 10 minutes to thicken. Both the roast and the gravy were absolutely bursting with aroma and flavour - by far the best I've made in ages!

Reviewed On: Dec. 1, 2009