Chicken, pepper, and mushroom alfredo

This sauce was EXCELLENT.  It made a huge difference using shredded cheese instead of the Kraft grated cheese in my alfredo sauce.  I had about half a bag of Sargento 6 cheese Itailian cheese left, which was great.  It had shredded mozzarella, smoked provolone, asiago, parmesan, romano, and fontina cheeses.  I should sometime actually plan to make alfredo with fresh cheese.

The peppers and mushrooms were just thrown in because we have tons of peppers in our garden and mushrooms from the farm... but they went perfectly with the dish.

I adapted the recipe to use my last 3/4 cup of heavy cream (from the goat cheese ice cream we had last week... recipe to come!).  Here is the recipe before my quantity adaptations.  Oh, also I tend to cheat on garlic.  I just dumped in some garlic powder instead of using a garlic clove.

Chicken, pepper, and mushroom alfredo
Ingredients:
• 6 oz. Mushrooms
• 1 green pepper
• One large chicken breast, or two me
• 1/2 box Fettucine
Sauce:
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parm cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

• 
  

Prepare pots and pans - Prepare chicken pan by heating pan and adding oil.
                                      Prepare veggie pan by heating pan and adding oil.
                                      Prepare pot for pasta by boiling water.
                                      Get out a small pot for sauce.

Chop veggies and pre-measure for sauce.

Add pasta to boiling water and multi task!  Cook your chicken and veggies, and begin to melt the butter in the sauce pot.  Once butter is melted, whisk in cream and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add garlic.  Add cheese little by little, whisking until mixed in.  Stir in parsley.

When chicken and veggies are done, remove from heat and slice chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Drain pasta and return to pot, tossing with sauce.  Add chicken and veggies and serve!



If you are looking for a "healthy" alfredo sauce, check out this one instead.


Source: allrecipes.com

Pesto Mushroom Pizza

Since I made pesto a few weeks ago I have been itching to make a pizza with it.  A box of mushrooms (from the CSA, of course) gave me a reason to do it.  Definitely don't be shy with the mushrooms for this!

I have been seeing this on other blogs all summer (hence the cravings for it) but didn't really use any of those recipes.  I have been using a recipe for pizza dough from my cousin's blog for a while now.  I like it better than the one from Buddy Valastro that was maybe my first blog post because this one is easier to stretch without tearing holes and makes a little thicker crust.  Still, we tend to have odd shaped pizzas.  Any tips for stretching them better?

Also, we have been grilling pizzas ever since the weather has allowed and will continue as long as the weather allows.  If you have a grill and have not yet grilled a pizza... seriously, try it!  Nick is in charge of grilling... so if I make the crust and help take toppings outside he takes over.  When he grills pizza he wipes the grate with olive oil, then slides if off of our giant cutting board onto the grill.  After one side cooks just a little (maybe for 2 minutes) he'll take it off and put it on the cutting board, cooked side up.  Then we add toppings, slide it back on the grill, and cook it until the cheese melts and we think it's done enough.

Pesto Mushroom Pizza

• Pizza Crust

• Mushrooms (a pound?)

• 3/4 cup - 1 cup of pesto

• 2 Cups mixed provolone/mozzarella cheese

Sautee mushrooms in olive oil.  Grill crust as directed above.  Remove from heat and add pesto and mushrooms.  Top with cheese.  Grill until heated and cheese is melted.