Living in Europe has spoiled me. Spoiled me rotten I say! I get REAL Italian food, Olive Garden just doesn’t compare. I love Alfredo. Bolognese is good, but Alfredo is the way to my heart. Dining out can get pretty pricey, especially here in Bavaria. So I set out to find a way to make store bought sauce taste like homemade sauce. After baking amazing blueberry cheese cake cookies, and my husband calling to give me a 20 minute warning that he was on his way home, I decided chicken Alfredo was just the thing to make for dinner.
So here is half of our cast of characters for tonight’s meal. This is what happens when I’m in a hurry to get dinner started before my husband walks through the door asking ‘What’s for dinner?’
So, let me lay it all out for ya:
16 oz of bowtie pasta
1 cup of mixed cauliflower and broccoli (Mine are frozen, which is why I didn't add olive oil to the list, the water from the ice will steam all of your vegetables)
¼ of a cup each of diced (julienne style) red,yellow and green bell pepper.
¼ of a cup of diced onion ( or less.. Im not a fan of onion)
1 package of precooked and sliced Tyson grilled chicken breast. ( because at this point I now have 15 minutes to get things started.)
Sauce:
1 Jar of Bertolli Alfredo sauce
½ a tsp of Hot Shot black and red cracked pepper
1 TBSp of crushed garlic ( we like garlic.. I’d keep your distance )
a dash of salt
and 2 oz of Cream Cheese.. Yes, cream cheese. THIS is what makes the sauce taste like its homemade and been simmering for what seems like forever. I discovered this nifty little trick one night, while I was in a rush yet again to get dinner on the table. I had a hankering for homemade Alfredo but didn’t have time or half the ingredients. I did however have a jar of premade sauce and cream cheese, I thought ‘oh why not?’ The good thing about being married to an Infantry man is that, he has eaten MUCH MUCH worse than anything I can cook in my kitchen.. So I figured if this experiment went awry , He wouldn’t complain…. Much.
So, let me lay it all out for ya:
16 oz of bowtie pasta
1 cup of mixed cauliflower and broccoli (Mine are frozen, which is why I didn't add olive oil to the list, the water from the ice will steam all of your vegetables)
¼ of a cup each of diced (julienne style) red,yellow and green bell pepper.
¼ of a cup of diced onion ( or less.. Im not a fan of onion)
1 package of precooked and sliced Tyson grilled chicken breast. ( because at this point I now have 15 minutes to get things started.)
Sauce:
1 Jar of Bertolli Alfredo sauce
½ a tsp of Hot Shot black and red cracked pepper
1 TBSp of crushed garlic ( we like garlic.. I’d keep your distance )
a dash of salt
and 2 oz of Cream Cheese.. Yes, cream cheese. THIS is what makes the sauce taste like its homemade and been simmering for what seems like forever. I discovered this nifty little trick one night, while I was in a rush yet again to get dinner on the table. I had a hankering for homemade Alfredo but didn’t have time or half the ingredients. I did however have a jar of premade sauce and cream cheese, I thought ‘oh why not?’ The good thing about being married to an Infantry man is that, he has eaten MUCH MUCH worse than anything I can cook in my kitchen.. So I figured if this experiment went awry , He wouldn’t complain…. Much.
Start to cook your broccoli and cauliflower in a 2 qt sauce pan on medium heat. Don’t mind my hard water spots, the water here in Germany is awful.
While your vegetables are cooking start a pot of salted water to boil. You should need about this much salt.
Okay, I lied.. It definitely needs more salt. One thing I learned from our local Italiano restaurant is; you can never over salt your pasta water. So lay it on!
While you have your vegetables cooking, and the water boiling..and the baby occupied. "Oprah calls it multi-tasking" (Name that movie!) ..Dice up your peppers julienne style, be sure to remove the seeds and core.
Now that you have got it looking all fancy like…
Throw it in the pot with your broccoli and cauliflower and give it a toss.
Now add your crushed garlic, we love this stuff. We use it in everything.
So it’s WAY more than a Tablespoon, we’ll say its 2 tablespoons and call it good. T-minus 7 minutes until hubby’s ETA. Now would be a good time to pour your pasta into the boiling water. Never mind my burned cauliflower.. In our house, nothing is burned; it’s full of flavor. Except for the croissant rolls from last night’s dinner, but I’ll save that juicy little tid bit for later.
Put a lid on the pot and let it steam it up. Hubby recently took over my kitchen and decided to hide things from me during his effort to re-arrange everything. Thus leading to me not able to find anything! With the clock counting down I resorted to using my casserole dish lid. It was where I could reach and find and it worked.
After a few minutes add the cream cheese. It would probably be best to cut it into smaller cubes rather than huge globs. I was pressed for time , don’t judge.
Once the cream cheese has melted a little, give it a good stir.
Now would be an optimal time to add in the chicken. As well as the premade store bought sauce.
Since hubby took over my kitchen, I cannot for the life of me find my black pepper grinder. So I use this as a substitute. Same thing, sort of. ½ a teaspoon .. or as much to your liking. And Stir it up.
And return the ghetto fabulous lid to the pot.
Drain the pasta and return it to it’s pot. Yes my strainer and I had an incident. We have forgiven each other.
Pour vegetables and sauce over pasta and toss to coat.
Divvy it up and serve! Can you tell which one is my husbands?
He has to have cayenne and crushed red pepper on EVERYTHING. He swears it adds flavor. I swear it’s indigestion waiting to happen. Dinner was finished shortly after Hubby walked in the door, he inhaled it and all was right in our house. Tomorrow’s adventure: Re-organize the recently re-organized kitchen.
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