Tuscan Chicken Pasta Salad

It's Summertime, here in A Great City by a Great Lake. Oh, and that Great Lake is gorgeous, in all her shimmering beauty! Her 'shimmery-ness' draws me to her in any season, but in Summertime, The LS (Little Sweethearts) and I stand on her shores and throw rocks. I stand sentinel, behind them, as they throw, plunk, and skip stones. LS #4 still needs to get the hang of picking up just the stone -- I end up with a faceful of sand as he sends his rock, skyward.

Summertime = do not heat up the kitchen on a hot, humid day. This recipe is inspired by Penzey's Spice Stores. I was bumming through Penzey's the other day and found the recipe that prompts this post. While it does require the services of the stovetop, pasta salad screams Summertime, to me.

I've shied away from making pasta salad, because everytime I've had it, there is always some sort of oil-like aftertaste. That is until the birthday party for LS #1. FDIL made pasta salad and is was delish; no aftertaste. Made me want to try pasta salad, so when I saw this recipe card displayed at Penzey's, I tore it off.

There are several distinct steps to this meal, but it is not labor intensive....and you know how I feel about 'labor intensive'. This is one of those recipes where you can do alot of the prep ahead of time ----- you know, like when you are watching House Hunters Sends A Family On A Maui Vacation In A House That Rents For $50,000 A Week.

It is easy, quick, and really good. Mr. RQ was raving about it, 2 forksful in.

Tuscan Chicken Pasta Salad

Inspired by Penzey's

Serves 2, but see my notes if you want more

Musical sous chef: I Like The Way You Move

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of all the fat

8 oz dry pasta (I used rainbow rotini)

1 bunch asparagus tips

1 red bell pepper, sliced thin (I used half)

1 orange or yellow bell pepper, sliced thin (I used half of an orange pepper)

1 medium onion, sliced thin

2 T. fresh lemon juice (half a lemon)

2 t. Tuscan Sunset seasoning blend

Pasta Dressing:

2 T. Tuscan Sunset seasoning blend

2 T. water

3 T. canola oil (or vegetable oil)

2 T. red wine vinegar

For the dressing:

In a bowl large enough for the finished product, mix the Tuscan Sunset seasoning with the water and blend well.

Let stand for 1 minute.

Whisk in the oil and red wine vinegar.

Set aside.

The rest of the stuff:

The pasta: Get the water boiling and cook the pasta, as you normally would. Drain, rinse and put into the bowl with the dressing. Toss thoroughly.

Place in frig. (sometimes I say 'refrig', which sends LS #1 into hysterics.)

The chicken: You want to smash the holy heck out of the chicken breast, between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, to flatten it to about 1/2". I use my WaWa's rolling pin for this (and when I do, I think of her using it in the Roaring 20's). If you have a traditional meat 'flattener', consider yourself 'modern'.

Dress up that chicken breast with a little drizzle of EVOO, a sprinkling of lemon juice, and a good sprinkle of the Tuscan Sunset seasoning.

Using a large skillet, get some EVOO and 2 T of butter hot. Just about to the smoking stage.

Add the chicken breast, flavored side down. Once you've added the chicken to the pan, dress up the side facing you with the EVOO, lemon juice and seasoning.

Pan saute the chicken until nicely browned on each side.

Remove from pan; place on a plate and cover with foil. Let it relax. After it has relaxed, slice into thin strips when ready to plate.

The vegies: In the same skillet in which the chicken was sauted, place the onions and saute, about 5 minutes. Turn down the heat and let caramelize about another 5 minutes.

Add the peppers. Sprinkle generously with Tuscan Sunset seasoning. Squeeze in some lemon juice. If you are feeling Restaurant Quality, grate in some lemon zest.

Saute until peppers begin to get soft.

Add asparagus tips. Saute for a couple minutes, only. Save the stalks of the asparagus for dinner on another night.

Now, it's time to layer your dinner. Pasta -- vegies -- chicken.

Voila..................

My Notes:

You will have to get yourself to a Penzey's to purchase the Tuscan Sunset Seasoning.

The recipe, as stated above, made more than enough pasta for 2 servings. The 8 oz of pasta could easily feed 3; maybe 4. The leftover pasta is delish the next day.

For 2 servings, I use one large chicken breast, flattened with WaWa's rolling pin and then cut in half, BEFORE I season and pan saute. You could easily use 2 chicken breasts, to serve 4 people.

The dressing recipe, as stated above, just covers the 8 oz of pasta. No residuals in the bowl. Alert and Aware for those of you who like dressing (it really is a viniagrette). If you make more than 8 oz. of pasta, double the viniagrette recipe.

Recipe calls for 1 red pepper and 1 yellow or orange pepper. I found 1/2 red and 1/2 orange to be plenty.

I did not measure out the seasoning for the chicken/vegies. I just sprinkled on what looked good to me.

I did not measure out the lemon juice. I cut the lemon in half and just squeezed out the amount of juice that looked good to me. I used one half lemon, total.

The viniagrette/pasta combo can be made ahead of time.

The vegies can be cut ahead of time.

The chicken can be made ahead of time, if you don't need warm chicken on your pasta salad. Ms. Viola Vineyard MUST have warm chicken on her salad, so this does not apply to her.

Stuffed Pasta Shells

Here's a quick post, as I prepare to go and see my Little Sweethearts, 1-4.


Mr. and Mrs. Hawley Road were here for dinner on Monday. Decided to make stuffed pasta shells, with homemade pasta sauce. Ahhhhh, it is so good.

The recipe makes alot of stuffed shells. If there are more than you want to bake for dinner, you can freeze the unbaked stuffed shells. (After you fill them, place on a cooking sheet; freeze. Then, place the shells in a ziploc bag and keep in freezer.)

The pasta sauce has been posted on 12/14/08.

A nice chianti goes quite nicely with this (both in preparing and in eating).

Life is good...........................

Stuffed Pasta Shells
adapted from one of Giada's recipes

Lightly oil a 9x13 pan


12 oz (1 box) jumbo pasta shells (make sure box says 'jumbo', as in Mrs. Jumbo from Dumbo)
1 pound ground beef
2 (15 oz) containers whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/3 cups grated parmesan cheese
4 large egg yolks
3 T chopped Italian parsley
3 T chopped fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese

5 cups pasta sauce (posted on 12/14/08)


Cook pasta shells in large pot of boiling salted water until slightly tender but still firm to the bite, about 4-6 minutes. (Shells continue cooking in the oven after they have been stuffed.)

Using slotted spoon, drain and scoop out shells and place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet, spreading them out so that they do not stick together; allow to cool.

Brown and drain the ground beef. I add a tablespoon of Italian herb seasoning to the meat, while browning.

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan, egg yolks, basil, parsley, salt and pepper.

Add the ground beef and combine.

Place about 1 1/4 cups of pasta sauce in the 9x13 pan.

Fill the cooled shells with the cheese/beef mixture; about 2 T. in each shell.

Place the filled shells in the 9x13 pan.

Spoon remaining sauce over the shells.

Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.

Bake in the lower third of the oven until filling is heated through, about 20-25 minutes.
350 degrees.


My Notes:

The pasta sauce I use is very good and does not take much time to bring together, at all. But, if you don't have the time, just use whatever store-bought pasta sauce you would like.

Recipe calls for 5 cups of pasta sauce; rarely do I use the full amount. Use as much or as little as you like. This is where the glass(es) of chianti helps you to assess the amount of sauce to use.

All the shells do not fit into a 9x13 pan. If you need more room, just get out another pan.

Generally, I end up freezing some of the unbaked stuffed shells.

Reheating the leftovers is a breeze. Already baked shells will reheat in about 15 minutes.

If the shells are coming out of the freezer, let shells come to room temp. Place in pan (pasta sauce on the bottom of pan and remember to sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese). Bake at 350 degrees, 20-25 minutes.

Of course, you can put the frozen shells right into the oven (in a pan, of course, not a ziploc bag). You'll just have to adjust baking times.