CHICKEN BASIL PASTA


A Chicken Recipe....and an UPDATE...some more information.  I went to our local all Natural, Farm Raised, Free Range, Hormone and Antibiotic Free Meat Market.  That was a mouthful!  I had previously bought their Pork Roasts, Pork Chops, Ground Turkey, and Ground Pork.  Love, Love these meats!   Today, I bought chicken pieces.  Then I told this butcher my story about the difficulty I was having eating "regular" meat from the Supermarkets.  He told me he was not surprised...that for the past few years he has been talking to local farmers, big and small to switch from their regular chicken feed to an organic chicken feed....he is still at it.  Apparently, many of the "Government regulated Feeds" contain....are you ready for this?....PORK BY-PRODUCT.  Wow.  I somehow think chickens were not meant to eat Pork By-Product.  This made me think....what about people, through religious reasons, or otherwise, were brought up to not consume Pork?  This raises even more questions about our "Regular" meat, how it is farmed, grown, and processed.  Honestly, it is too much for my brain to comprehend....all I know is, from here on in......FREE RANGE, ORGANIC, HORMONE AND ANTIBIOTIC, AND PORK BY PRODUCT FREE for my family.  Don't mean to sound extreme here,.....but I just feel this is too important.  And you know what else?  I have not totally done the cost analysis....which I will.... but by eating 2-3 Vegetarian Meals a week, it should balance out the costs of paying extra for Free Range or Organic Raised Meat.  I will keep you posted, promise.
(This was the first recipe I made, since switching to Free Range Chicken...after my last Chicken Experience, I have to say I was somewhat reluctant to eat chicken, honestly, I was scared,.....the good news is,  it was so delicious, and I did not get sick! )  When I asked my family what they thought the difference was, they all said..Pure, Clean, and way more Flavorful.  I could not agree more!
I can not believe, after all these years, it has taken me this long to develop this recipe...Lord have mercy!  You see, about 10 years ago, I developed a Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe....a post down the road....this recipe is somewhat based on that.....Why did I not think of this sooner?  This recipe uses Yogurt Cheese (or dripped yogurt) which I have always used in my Lasagna Recipe.  I love the recipes I have created with SCD whip cream and Alfredo sauces.....they are wonderful.  The difference here, is something that is lighter, and Dang was it good!  Well,enough said, here it is.....this would be lovely on Spaghetti Squash too.
1 pkg. free range chicken tenders (or sliced chicken breasts) about 3/4 of a pound
1 pkg. Tinkyada Spiral Brown Rice Pasta (any pasta would work)
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1/2 large diced onion
5 minced garlic cloves
4 slices, diced cooked bacon
handful of mushrooms, diced
10 oz pack of grape tomatoes, sliced in half
handful of diced Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
1 1/2-2 cups dripped yogurt, (or yogurt cheese)
1 finely diced green onion
huge handful of minced (chiffon ode style) fresh basil
2 rounded tsp. Italian Seasoning
salt and pepper
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
grated Asiago Cheese, and extra Parmesan Cheese

Heat a medium sized pan on low medium heat, add in the bacon, and brown.  Remove the bacon from the pan and add in the mushrooms, sauteing until golden.  Add the diced onion, sauteing to lightly carmelize.   Meanwhile, rinse and pat dry the chicken tenders (mine were long, so I cut in half...to two inch pieces).  Remove the browned onion and mushroom to a bowl and set aside.  Add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan, and add in the chicken, stirring to brown.  Then add in the Italian Seasoning, onion mushroom mixture,  salt and pepper, and the sliced tomatoes mixing well, turn down to minimum heat.
Cook Pasta, as per directions.
In a bowl, mix the yogurt cheese, 1 diced green onion,  minced basil,  and Parmesan cheese, freshly cracked pepper, mix well to combine..the mixture wants to be on the thick side....so if not,  add in more Parmesan cheese.
Once pasta is cooked, drain and add to the chicken mixture, add in the yogurt mixture and combine.  Sprinkle  with the diced parsley on top, and freshly grated Asiago Cheese.  This was divine....will definitely  be making more Pasta dishes with yogurt.

Ina Gawne
author
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6 comments on “CHICKEN BASIL PASTA”

  1. I never thought about it - but the chicken I buy in the supermarket is labeled 100% Vegetal - meaning they are only fed vegetable products. It just seemed logical to me - that is what chickens eat, after all. But I think the French, in general, are more concerned about keeping their food natural. I often find slugs in the lettuce that I buy.... (meaning, no pesticides used)
    But feeding chickens pig? Yikes!

    1. Wow you guys are lucky! But you know, that is how it should be! I now only shop at one butcher, where I know the meat is all natural. Canada and the States could learn a thing or two from Europe, thats for sure. Ina

  2. This looks great. I have some basil in my flower bed I need to use. I have been concerned as well with the crap in our diet as well as the crap in our foods diet. Yes, I am a meat eater, but I would like to know my food had a nice life before winding up on my dinner plate.

    1. I'm with you on that one Tracee! We have only been eating free range organic meats now, what a difference! I try to balance out some of the costs by eating 2 or 3 vegetarian meal a week, but we are meat eaters too. Maybe if more people stopped eating all the crap meats, things would change! Ina

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May 26, 2010
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