So last night I was forced into trying to come up with a new idea for dinner, since I took out spare chicken parts instead of the ground beef to make some cheeseburger mac. DUH! Well, I figured I would try to use up one of my Ragu Sauces that I purchased. So I choose the alfredo sauce. I tasted it before I worked with it, wasn't to impressed with the taste. It's not bad, it's just kind of...blah.
So here's what I did. I removed all the skin and fat from the chicken, put it in a pot covered it with water, added a little oil, salt, some onion and herb Mrs. Dash seasoning I've been trying to use up, and poached it for about 10-15 minutes. Fully cooked, juicy, and great.
I cooked the pasta. Not al dente, just beyond to cooked but not falling apart. I used pene rigatte pasta. 3cups worth (rounded with a few spills). Strained and allowed to cool slightly in collendar.
I cut up the chicken into decent chunks, put the pasta into a bowl, added 1/2 cup of the alfredo sauce, mixed it, added the chicken chunks and probably about 1/4 of shredded mozzerala cheese, teasspoon of dried parsley, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powerder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, then another 1/2 cup of alfredo sauce. Mixed it all up, put it into a greased small casserole dish (Rachel Ray's to be specific), and sprinkled some more mozzerala cheese ontop. Threw it into a preheated 350 oven (because I was making a french loaf) for 15 minutes. I then took it out, put the broiler on, and put it under the broiler for about 5-10 mins (it was still preheating so it the time would vary I'm sure), to get the cheese brown.
It was good, but it wasn't great. I felt that if I would have added a few things it would have been great. For starters, some diced or ground onion would have added some more flavor. I also think that some flavored croutons, ground up, mixed with a little bit of butter and the mozzerala cheese, then sprinkled on top would have made it superb.
I still prefer to make alfredo the normal way, but this was fast since I was unprepared, and I used exactly what I had on hand, as I haven't gone grocery shopping yet. This is also the perfect size for two people, with each getting one leftover the next day. And it's just as good, if not better the next day.
I shall be making note of this and putting it into my personal recipe box for another one of those "I'm down to nothing, so what do I have on hand that I can use to make a meal" days.
What's this?