Tomato & Chicken "Alfredo"

I know what you're thinking. "3 posts in 2 days? What's going on? Has something taken over Michelle?"

You never know....

There are plenty of nights I throw some sort of meat in a pan with a whole bunch of whatever I happen to see in the fridge and cupboard. Change it up this way and that way, throw some more of this in it. Usually it turns out pretty good. Tonight was no exception. In fact, I thought it interesting enough to post the recipe. Hubby actually thanked me for dinner, and the boys scarfed it down in about 2 seconds, so it must not have been just me who liked it.


3 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup sherry (or chicken broth)
salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp each parsely, thyme, and sage (I used fresh from my garden)
1 can diced tomatoes

Heat oil and butter in a saucepan. Using both adds flavor to the chicken and helps it brown better. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper, add to the oil and saute until browned. Add the garlic and herbs, cook a minute or so more. Pour the wine it, scraping up the brown bits. Add the can of tomatoes, do not drain the juice out. Let that simmer on low to reduce the liquid by half while the pasta cooks.

1/2 box rotini

Heat salted water to boiling. Dump in pasta. I had 1/2 a box left from something so that's what I used. I think it was about 2 cups, maybe 2 1/2? Cook for about 9 minutes. 7-8 is "al dente" which my husband doesn't like, he doesn't think it's all the way done. 10 minutes and more makes it too mushy. (I am sure you have all done that, doesn't hold up in a sauce very well...) Drain and add to the chicken mixture.

1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup parmesan
1 stalk green onion, thinly sliced

It didn't look quite right yet. And we are trying to increase the calories of my really thin son who has a super fast metabolism. So I dumped in about 1/2 cup or so of heavy cream. I did thin it out with a little milk because the sauce was a little thick. Tossed in some parmesan and sliced green onion as an afterthought.

The son who doesn't eat hardly anything completely cleaned his plate. Hubby had two large servings. The baby wolfed it down, tomatoes and all. My methodical large-amounts eater did what he always does, ate it. I didn't have a huge serving, because of all the pasta I snuck while waiting for the broccoli to cook in the microwave.

It reminded me of alfredo, hence the "alfredo" in the title. Because it is not true alfredo sauce, just my cheater method. It's that parmesan flavor, I'm telling you!

Like I said, this experiment turned out good enough to warrant sharing with all of you. Enjoy!