It’s a…….
Dear Diary,
It’s 1963 and “today I met the boy I’m going to marry” (as the song goes). Lots of sporting events, I attended, just to see the boy I was going to marry play football, baseball, basketball and track. High school went by so fast, where did that time go.
1969 — married and on our way to Panama City Beach for our honeymoon. Why are we the only car going South — oh, hurricane Camille coming and we had no idea what was going on with the evacuation. The hurricane missed our beach. My first glass of burgundy had me thinking I was not going to be a wine drinker (that changed). First helicopter ride (my last), back to college for hub and we spent a year and a half in Rolla.
1971-1976 — Our first move to Louisville, KY. First son born 1973, then second son 1976. Fond memories of Louisville and derby’s, friends and baby boys.
1980 — our daughter was born in Ft. Madison, IA
FAST FORWARD to 2016 — After a move from Iowa, to Chicago to Kansas City then our final move to Texas we are five grandsons richer with our daughter expecting again this February.
Dear Diary, It’s me again — we were in Austin this weekend babysitting our youngest grandson, Thomas, since he was out of school for the week. One day his mom brought home cupcakes with hidden frosting in the middle telling the sex of the baby. Was it a girl or a boy? Dad took the first bite and bit into a blue filled cupcake — IT’S A BOY.
Our 6th grandson on the way in February; another cute little guy to add to our lineup of sweet smiles.
So, on the last day there I had this pasta dish made when they came home from work. It’s beautiful to look at, tasty and enough that I’m sure they had leftovers for work or dinner. I found this pasta at Trader Joe’s so if you don’t have a TJ nearby, use any colored pasta for the recipe.
This is such an easy dish to throw together, especially if you buy grilled chicken in your freezer section of grocery.
Put the butter and oil in skillet, when heated, add the shallots and garlic and stir for 3-4 minutes.
Have your other ingredients ready because it doesn’t take any time to throw this together. Thanks Thomas for loaning me one of your little plates.
Add the cooked chicken to the skillet with the garlic and shallots. Break the strips into smaller pieces.
Have your parmesan grated and ready to put in at the end of cooking everything.
Cook the pasta until just al dente. Save about 1 cup of the pasta water in case you need it to thin the sauce.
Add the cooked pasta, artichokes and roasted red peppers to the skillet.
Add in the parsley and then slowly stir in the cream. Stir until everything is coated. If needed add a little more cream or some of the reserved pasta water.
- 3-4 c. cooked chicken
- 1 lb. bag tri-colored pasta
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 3 shallots, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2-3 Tbsp. capers, drained
- zest of one lemon
- juice of one lemon
- 1/2 tsp.salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 c. chopped parsley
- 1/2 c. grated parmesan
- 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, optional
- 1/2 c. roasted red pepper strips (I used the ones in a jar)
- Start your water for cooking the pasta about 15 minutes before starting the recipe. When the past is done, strain the pasta and reserve about 1-2 c. of the pasta water.
- Put the butter and olive oil in large skillet and heat. Add in the garlic and shallots and saute 3-4 minutes. Add in the cooked chicken, peppers, cooked pasta. Toss to mix well. Add in the lemon zest and lemon juice, salt and pepper. Sprinkle on the parsley and parmesan and optional red pepper flakes. Gently mix well. Slowly stir in the 1 cup cream. If you need more liquid use some of the pasta water you have reserved or some chicken broth.
- I think I added about 3/4 cup of pasta water to thin my sauce down. If I had chicken broth I would have used that. I timed the cooking of the pasta so that when it was done, I used a slotted spoon and took the pasta directly from he water into the pan with the chicken and other ingredients.
- I also had some grilled, frozen chicken breast that I had bought at Trader Joe's. A rotisserie chicken would have worked also.
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