This is one of Luke's favorites, and I'll have to say the starring ingredient is the alfredo sauce, which is homemade. Of course if you're pressed for time, you can always just buy a jar of sauce, but the homemade sauce is easier than you might think, and so worth the few extra minutes making! I have no idea where I found the recipe other than it was in one of Luke's mom's magazines or cookbooks. You can use any type of pasta you like; we like either short pasta like farfalle (bow-tie), fusilli (twirly pasta, in the picture below), or sometimes we'll use fettuccine. This recipe serves two, so it's easily multiplied. It's also one of my "don't measure" recipes (apart from the sauce) so sorry the first part is a little unstructured.

Chicken & Spinach Alfredo
1 chicken breast half, cut into cubes
Pasta (When I'm serving just a pasta dish, I add a little more pasta than what's recommended for 2 servings)
Frozen spinach (If using fresh, chop it up)
Spices (I use lemon pepper, garlic salt & onion powder)
Olive oil
Alfredo Sauce (recipe follows)


Get the pasta water boiling first, and then start the alfredo sauce. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the chicken and saute until opaque. When it's cooked almost through, add seasonings to taste, around 1 heaping teaspoon of each. Add about two handfuls of frozen spinach. The spinach will pick up spices that the chicken leaves behind in the pan.

Combine the chicken & spinach mixture with the cooked pasta. Separate into two pasta or salad bowls and pour the finished alfredo sauce over. I like to sprinkle with a little grated Parmesan on top.

Alfredo Sauce
3 oz butter
1 1/2 c. Parmesan
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
3 T. chopped fresh parsley (or 1 1/2 T. dried)

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add Parmesan and cream, increasing heat to medium. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is thickened slightly and cheese is completely melted. Add parsley, salt and pepper to taste; stir until combined. Serve immediately.

Downloadable Alfredo Sauce Recipe

Today I had my first attempt at fresh pasta! I decided to make my sister-in-law Julie's Chicken Ravioli, and it turned out pretty good! I learned a few things along the way, and thought I'd share how I made the pasta with you all.


First of all, the recipe for pasta dough I used was from Food Network's Mario Batali. The basic recipe is as follows, and is for doing it all by hand, rather than with a pasta machine.

Eggless Semolina Pasta Dough
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. semolina flour
1 to 1 1/4 c. water (as needed)

Mix the flours on a flat dry work surface, and make a well in the center. Add the water, a little at a time, while stirring with one hand. Once you get around half the flour mixture combined with the water, start kneading the dough, adding water as necessary. (The dough will come together eventually.) Knead for 8-10 minutes. The dough will start to be glossy and smooth, although on the hard, tough side up until the very end of kneading. (It will still be tough.) Wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before rolling.

When rolling, cut dough into 2 or 3 pieces and then roll out into sheets. Cut into desired shapes.

For the ravioli, roll out the pasta into long rectangles. Place the chicken mixture (the sort-of recipe will follow) in little mounds on one side of the rectangle. Fold over the rectangle so that it looks like this:





Cut in between each mound, and press around the mound of filling to seal the ravioli. I used an egg wash as "glue," but I also found this isn't necessary. (Egg wash: 1 egg and 1 teaspoon water, whisked.) Once they are cut and sealed, lay them out on a damp paper towel or a piece of wax paper, and DO NOT STACK!!! I found this out the hard way, and wrecked about 8 ravioli.

To cook, drop into boiling, salted water that has a touch of olive oil in it for 3-5 minutes. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and place in your serving bowl. Enjoy!

Julie's Chicken Filling
Half a chicken breast, boiled and shredded
Ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese
Fresh chopped parsley
Garlic powder
Salt

All of this is to taste. I used a few scoops of ricotta, a handful of Parmesan, a handful of parsley, probably a teaspoon of garlic powder and half a teaspoon of salt. This will be enough to fill your pasta. I actually made double this recipe, so I'll be making more pasta tomorrow to use up the rest.

Julie's Homemade Pasta Sauce
2 cans tomato puree
Dash of red wine vinegar
Dash of olive oil
Italian seasonings to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of hot sauce to taste

At the end of heating up this sauce, add a dash of cream and serve.

The extra ravioli can be frozen, just separate the individual ravioli with wax paper.





Downloadable recipe!