wannabe Sandra Lee

Hello! As you can see from the title, I am a fan of Sandra Lee and Semi-Homemade. Well, really I am a fan of the Semi-Homemade concept. Sandra Lee is a little much for me at times with all her "tablescapes," but the concept is awesome. Seriously.

For those of you who haven't heard of her, or semi-homemade...here's the idea. You take store bought ingredients and mix in fresh ingredients for a meal that tastes completely homemade. No one knows the difference, and you certainly don't have to tell!

We're all about secrets here at SITS Chefs!

The recipe I am going to share with you today is Spicy Chicken Pasta. I really love pasta and I really, really love FRESH pasta. The homemade kind, which I do not know how to make myself, but Buitoni does. This recipe uses fresh pasta, fresh and frozen vegetables, a pre-made sauce, frozen chicken and a few spices. It comes together with little chopping, and two pans. I promise, it will taste like something you slaved over when in reality, it only takes about a half hour.

Here's what you need:

1 pkg Buitoni Linguine

1 container Buitoni Alfredo Sauce

2 cups pre-cooked (and frozen) Fajita grilled chicken

sliced mushrooms

sugar snap peas (frozen)

corn (frozen)

2 carrots

green onions

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

garlic powder

ground red pepper

ground paprika

pepper

This recipe should feed four adults!

OK, let's get cooking! I am using frozen fajita chicken that comes pre-grilled and seasoned. You can choose to defrost the chicken, or pop it into a micro-cooker with some water and cook on high for three minutes. If you haven't been introduced to the Pampered Chef micro-cooker, say hello! A micro-cooker is a plastic pot with a strainer lid that is an amazing help to anyone who likes quick cooking. The chicken went from frozen to hot in three minutes and was waiting for me, instead of me waiting for it to saute and then chop it up.

In it goes and it comes out smelling and looking great. Pardon me while I sample.

Ok, now we need to chop the carrots and onions. You can slice your carrots or fake julienne them. Now, I don't really care what shape you end up with, but you need to make them smaller, and you need to do them first. The carrots will take the longest to cook, so you want to start with them.

Add a little oil to your pan and get it heated up. I put mine on medium high and throw in the carrots. Let them start to soften while you chop the other veggies.

Chop your onion and add it to the pan. Stir the veggies around a little while you attend to the mushrooms. I chose to use pre-washed and pre-sliced mushrooms. Pre-washed veggies are a gal's best friend and I use them a lot, but not always. Why not always? Well, if you've ever looked in the produce section at pre-chopped items, some of them are in HUGE bags. I do not need a quart sized bag of shredded carrots. Nope. Not at all. I might use a SNACK sized bag, but not one clearly intended for...well, I don't know what anyone would need that for.

Moving on...

The mushrooms are sliced, but I still run my knife through them to make them a little smaller to cook faster.

Now you can season your vegetables a little bit. Some salt, pepper and garlic powder will add to your flavor.

They should soften up in about 7-8 minutes. Check the carrots to make sure they are the consistency you like. I don't like to have a crunch, but you might. Once they are where you like, add the chicken and toss with the veggies.Spices. YUM. I love spices and my cabinet is packed full. I play around with flavor combinations, but these are the three you need for this dish. If you want to use fresh garlic, be my guest, or the pre-minced kind that you keep in your refrigerator would work well, too.

I mentioned that we are using Buitoni products today and I chose linguine and the alfredo sauce. Now, Buitoni also makes a LIGHT version of this Alfredo sauce, but the store I was at today wasn't carrying it.

I am adding the spices directly to the sauce, not the chicken or veggies. This way it really flavors the sauce.
The paprika is on the left, the garlic is in the middle and the red pepper is on the right. Paprika is a spice with a lot of flavor, but not a lot of heat. The heat comes from the red pepper, and I use it sparingly. However, please add as little or as much as you want. The more you add, the spicer it will be. If you are using fresh garlic, you want to add it to the veggies in the saute pan, so it will get cooked. If you add it to the sauce it will be too raw when you eat! Also, fresh pasta really soaks up sauce, so if you like it SAUCY then you might want to use two containers of the sauce.

Do you have water boiling? Well, get it going! Salt your water and get the pasta in. Fresh pasta cooks up in about half the time of traditional pasta, so if you are really in a hurry, it will save you time. But, this recipe also will work fine with whatever pasta you choose.

This is also a good time to throw in any frozen veggies that you want to add. I am adding sugar snap peas and corn. A mixed vegetable medley would work well, too. Add whatever amount works for you...I like lots of veggies.

Drain your pasta and veggies after about 5 minutes. While the pasta is in your strainer, add the sauce to the bottom of the pasta pot. Lower the heat to low and let it warm up, then add your pasta back in. Throw the chicken and vegetable combo on top and toss to coat.

Slice your green onions to sprinkle on top.

Plate up your pasta and get that fork!

One last thing I sprinkle on top is ground nutmeg. I know it sounds weird, but nutmeg is subtly spicy and adds a nice flavor to any cream based sauce. Leave it out, and the pasta will taste fine. Add it, and the pasta will come alive. No, not really...but it does add a nice layer of flavor.

Pasta is a quick cooks best friend and the possibilites are endless. This works well as a Primavera Pasta if you lose the fajita chicken, paprika and red pepper. My mom suggested adding squash and zuccini, but I wasn't up to chopping all those vegetables. Also, a bite sized pasta like penne or farfalle (bowties) would make it easier for kids to eat.

Check back next month for another semi-homemade meal from this Sandra Lee Wannabe!

(I am Sissy, and I am living Out on a Limb!)