Recommended Recipe

As I had shared on our weekly menu, I tried another new recipe last night, chicken scampi...it was great! My husband never gets excited about anything and he kept going on and on about good it was. And it was easy to make, which was a good thing since I didn't feel well last night and Bailey was very needy, crying almost the whole time I was cooking. As I had mentioned, I prepared the sauce ahead of time. I was cooking dinner Sunday night and just went ahead and made the sauce then. If you're already cooking, it takes much less time and effort to go ahead and get a head start than it would have for me to make the whole dish last night. On a side note, I have a new found appreciation for food photographers, its harder than you think to take a good picture of food!

Ingredients:

Scampi Sauce:

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons minced white onion

1/4 cup minced garlic (8-12 cloves)

1 1/2 cups Chablis wine

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Make scampi sauce by melting butter in a preheated pan over medium/low heat. Add minced white onions and saute for 2-4 minutes, or until the onion begins to brown. (If the butter begins to burn, turn down the heat)

2. Once the onion is beginning to brown, add the minced garlic and saute for another 30 seconds. Don't let the garlic burn.

3. Add the wine, salt, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and black pepper and bring to a simmer. Simmer for approximately 15-18 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by half.

4. Add the parsley and the heavy cream and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. Do NOT let the mixture reach a boil.

If you're not making the dinner at this time, remove the sauce from the heat and let it cool. Pour into a Tupperware container and store in the refrigerator. When you're ready to prepare the meal, pour the sauce into a pan over low heat to warm through.

Chicken & Pasta:

2-3 quarts water

8 ounces angel hair pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 chicken breasts sliced into small strips or 6 chicken tenderloins

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 green bell pepper, cut into bite-size strips

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into bite-size strips

1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into bite-size strips

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add the angel hair pasta and cook for 4 minutes or until mostly tender. Drain the pasta in a colander or sieve, then hit it with some cold water to prevent sticking and to keep it from cooking further. (The cold water is important, I did not do this and my noodles did stick together!)

2. Preheat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken, then coat each one in the flour.

3. Cook the tenderloins 3-5 minutes on one side or until golden brown.

4. When the chicken is brown on one side, flip each of the pieces and move them to the side of the pan. Add the chopped peppers to the center of the skillet. Continue cooking until the chicken is brown and the veggies are beginning to brown on the edges.

5. Pour the scampi sauce over the chicken and peppers in the pan. Then add the pasta and toss everything together and continue cooking until the pasta is heated through.

Makes 2 large servings (you'll definitely have enough for leftovers!)

Enjoy!