Chicken Olive Anglehair Pasta; Perfect for a Summers Eve

Chicken Olive Angelhair Pasta
Light pasta with lots of flavor perfect for a summer evening.

Apologies for the vagueness of the ingredient amounts but please note the more the better so don't worry about overdoing it.

Generous handful of Italian Parsley.
2 cloves garlic
Delicate Olive Oil
2 chicken breasts diced
2 cups of green olives with pimento
1/2 small onion
1/2 package angel hair pasta
>1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1. Add 1/4 cup olive oil to pan (no heat yet).
2. Chop/dice garlic, onion and Italian parsley (remove thicker stems before chopping) and add to oil. Let sit while preparing other items.
3. Chop olives and set aside.
4. Boil pasta, when done add 1tbsp oil to stop it from sticking. Set aside.
5. Turn on heat to pan, add chicken and cook. 5 minutes before chicken is done add olives.
6. Add cooked pasta to mixture and if needed add more oil to adequately cover all ingredients.
7. Add 1/2 cup grated cheese and stir.



Serve with extra grated cheese on the table. Enjoy.


I leave on a business trip tomorrow morning so sadly I will not have another post until Thursday.  My apologies but I do promise Thursday will be worth checking in!!

Sleep well all,
xox
Dish

Quick Pasta...What's In Your Fridge?

I thought it was time that I posted another meal and why not whatever I was making for dinner tonight.  I am the Queen of opening my fridge and finding inspiration...well actually its more of a desperate grab to see what I can throw together to make semi appetising.  Usually things turn out okay but I have realised that I fall back on a few simple fundamental tactics to make that happen that I thought worth sharing.

Fundamentals:

1.  I always have in the house fresh garlic, Italian parsley, light (very light) olive oil, jarred sweet red peppers, honey Dijon mustard, grated Parmesan and Romano (in bags in the freezer) and dried pasta.  The others store longer than the parsley but as I hate throwing food away having it in the fridge forces me to use it which is actually a good tactic to get me moving.  In the summer months I do grow the parsley in the backyard...its actually more of a weed at this stage and after the initial planting I have done absolutely nothing to maintain it but alas it's already being clipped for dinners now.

Above in tonight's pasta was olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley, sliced prosciutto and grape tomatoes.  Cook pasta beforehand, drain in cullender, lightly coat with oil and let sit until you are 10 minutes before plating.  Fifteen minutes before you plan to eat lightly saute the above and add the noodles.  Serve with grated cheese (Romano or Parmesan).



2.  I am not afraid.  It surprises me how many people are afraid to cook without a recipe.  Don't be afraid..if it flops so it flops and you'll know for next time but its the fear of making a mistake or "not knowing where to begin" that is stopping you from enjoying cooking.  Literally open the fridge grab what you have and give it a roll (tonight was the tomatoes and prosciutto).  You'll learn quickly what flavors you enjoy together and those which you do not.  I love to cook but I from time to time have some serious mess ups but I only do them once.

3.  The most important fundamental.  Surround yourself with people that appreciate you making the effort and praise you for doing so.  God bless my husband; even if the meal is completely intolerable he still eats it all and says that he enjoys it.  If its really really bad he may make a comment that although the dinner is good, he mentions another dish I make as his favourite but it never stops him from finishing his plate. 

I am very lucky....but he thinks he is too so I guess we're all good....  Getting the kids to eat the disasters is another topic all together...

Happy easy healthy cooking all.

xox

Dish

Quick Asparagus, Panchetta And Spinach Pasta. Doesn't Get Better/Easier Than This

Last week at book club one of the girls mentioned that the group should swap recipes as she was looking for quick homemade meals.  I thought to myself that is TOTALLY what my cooking is all about and if she was looking perhaps some of you may also be interested.

So here's one.

I have returned to pasta after many single years of shunning it.  With many people moving towards eating less and less meat (although this dish does have a bit of pork) I have reintroduced it into our lives....reintroduced also because my kids will eat it too.

This meal takes, no lie, roughly 15-20 minutes total to make. 

In a frying pan I add generously a very delicate olive oil, chopped onions, asparagus and chopped ham pieces.  I cook just until the asparagus is that brilliant green colour and still crunchy.  I then add my cooked pasta (I love angel hair), more oil if I need it and then fresh spinach.  I continue in the pan until the spinach is wilted, plate and then top with lots of fresh parmesan.

Fresh, very simple and healthy.  Try varying up the ingredients...for me it's whatever is in the fridge that night.

xox

Dish