Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Creamy One Pot Pasta

I made this recipe recently when my family was in town and everyone went back for seconds. So yummy, but also very basic and healthy. The sauce is very light and flavorful and mixes great with the veggies. It's also nice to have another meatless meal (since most of the meals I make have meat in them and that gets expensive at times). I got this recipe from my sister-in-law and I believe she got it from the pampered chef website or something like that.

IMG_2797

Ingredients:
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 jar of sun dried tomatoes*
3 cans (5 and 1/4 cups) chicken broth
1 lb. uncooked pasta (I used bow tie)*
1 head broccoli (2 cups)
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
grated parmesan

Directions:
Cook garlic in 1 tbsp. oil in stockpot for a couple minutes. Add broth, cover, and bring to boil. Stir in pasta, cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, chop broccoli and carrots and slice tomatoes. Cut cream cheese into cubes. Add veggies, cheese, salt and pepper to pot. and stir until cream cheese is melted (do not drain pasta). Reduce heat, cover and cook 4-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

* Sun dried tomatoes are pretty pricey ($6 a jar at my store)...so I substituted chopped red pepper and I loved how it turned out. I think you can use pretty much whatever veggies you feel like.
* The recipe actually calls for penne or ziti, but I used bow tie pasta because that's what my sister-in-law used the time she made it and I really liked it with that kind of pasta. So I altered the amount of time to cook the pasta (penne would take longer).
* If you like your pasta more on the firm side, I would put the veggies in a bit sooner so they have time to get tender before the pasta gets too soft.

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