Saturday, August 14, 2010

Chicken and Pasta, Couldn't Be Better

So, it's been a long while since I've updated. My appologies. My computer crapped out on me and I haven't had a whole ton of chances to do cooking recently. So this is what I came up with the other day.

Chicken Penne Cordon Blue

Makes about 8 servings

What You Need:
1.15 lbs of Chicken Tender Breasts (I used the Tyson ones, use all of the package)
1 lb Penne
8 oz Italian Cheese Blend (I used Tilamook, but Kraft works just as well, or whatever the cheap brand is)
Ham/Pancetta/Bacon/Prosuito-2 or 3 slices of ham will do, I used Honey Ham
2 c of Milk
1/4 cup of Butter
1/4 cup of Flour (I used whole wheat because I was out of white, if it sits in the fridge for several days, it'll turn a funny color, the whole wheat flour I mean)
4 cloves of Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Fresh Basil
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Parsley
Freshly grated Nutmeg
2 tablespoons of Cream Cheese
EVOO to cook the chicken in

Things I didn't use but would probably be good in it:
1 small onion or 1/2 a medium sized onion
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes

And I would definitely recommend using bread crumbs, but I didn't have any of bread crumbs to use.

What to do:
1. Cut and cook the chicken till it's done, and preheat the oven to 350
2. Boil the water
3. Cook pasta 6-8 minutes
4. Melt the butter and add the flour, and stir to make a paste (AKA: A roux)
5. Let the flour 'cook out' for a couple of minutes
6. Add the milk and let it thicken, stir the lumps out of the milk. Should only take a few minutes
7. Add the seasonings to the milk, the garlic powder, the onion powder, some salt and pepper, nutmeg, parsley, Basil (make sure it's fresh), the cream cheese, and the garlic(and if you were using these things) the mustard, red pepper flakes, and onion. (You could cook the garlic and onion first, till they're translucent)
8. Add 1/2 the cheese into the mixture, and stir till it's smooth and incoorperated
9. Crisp the ham in a pan
10. Mix the chicken with the pasta, and put in a baking dish, put a layer of plain pasta down, and a little bit of chicken, put just a little bit of sauce on the pasta, and a little bit of ham, then layer the rest of the chicken/pasta mixture, and the sauce. Then sprinkle the rest of the cheese and the ham, and if you have breadcrumbs, sprinkle them up on top here.
11. Bake for 20 minutes
12. Remove and let cool for a little bit
13. Enjoy!

And that's Chicken Penne Cordon Blue! :)