Chicken Fajita Pasta

This is one of those simple yet delicious dishes you'll be wanting to make again and again. I'm not a huge fan of "one pot" pastas. I don't particularly like the extra starch that the drains out with the pasta cooking into the food. But you can consider this a "two pot" pasta. Since, noodles aside, you're pretty much dumping everything into a large cooking vessel and stir it together. It really couldn't be any easier! And quite honestly, the taste is also out of this world. It certainly is not C'est si bon gourmet. But if you happen to be in search of an easy crowd pleaser that tastes good and can be thrown together with minimal effort and supervision, then I've got your back. Well, at least in the cooking arena. I'm probably not going to get up with your toddler at 6 am. Or help you wrap Christmas presents. I won't even help you tell your ex it is really truly over. But I can point you in the right direction with this dish. "I'm your boy Blue." (Or "You're my boy Blue." Semantics really. Stop being so argumentative, geez.) If you're considering turning away at this point, due to my nonsensical dialogue, don't the recipe follows in 3, 2, 1...

Ingredients:

8 garlic cloves

2 chicken breasts

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 red, 1 yellow and 1 green pepper

1 yellow onion

14.5 oz can fire roasted tomato

10 oz can of rotelle with chilis

1/3 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

½ cup shredded mozzarella (or shredded Mexican blend)

2 1.4 oz fajita seasoning packets

2/3 box penne, spiral, or any other “tube” shape/length pasta (I like to use brown rice noodles, since I like to limit my gluten. But that’s your call.)

Red pepper flakes, optional (for additional spice)

Cilantro, optional

Crumbling cheese, optional

Instructions:

1. Cook your noodles according to the instructions on the box, drain and set aside. Undercook your pasta ever so slightly, since it will “cook” a little more in the sauce later.

2. In a large pan (I have a Teflon pan that is wok size, I use it often), add 1 tbsp of olive oil, diced chicken breast, diced peppers and diced onions and garlic. You can cut the chicken and the peppers to whatever size you like best. But I would cut the onions ad garlic into pretty small pieces. Sprinkle the chicken and vegetables with salt and pepper. It is important to season along with way!

3. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5-8 minutes.

4. We now begin the “dump” portion. In goes the fire roasted tomatoes, the rotelle, the chicken broth, the heavy whipping cream and the fajita seasoning.

5. Allow these flavors to cook together for 7-8 minutes on a medium high heat. (If you cut your chicken into very large chunks, it may also be a good idea to make sure the biggest piece is thoroughly cooked at this point.)

6. Add the ½ cup of shredded cheese and stir until it is mixed in to the sauce.

7. Add your cooked/drained pasta to the large skillet and stir everything together. The sauce is thinner than what you would find in other cream sauces, so keep letting the pasta absorb some of it.

8. Cook (literally every ingredient should be in at this point), stirring occasionally for maybe 5 minutes.

9. Serve… Feel free to add cilantro, a crumbling cheese such as cojita or feta. Also, you may want to add red pepper flakes. This dish has a very mild spice.

Enjoy!