Week 52: Loaded White Cheddar Garlic Pasta

I find recipes now and then that just scream "girl." I just don't think that food is gender neutral. I save up these recipes for when Brad takes a fishing or hunting or biking trip or goes to play cards or works late. Barb-only dinners.

Taken from Annie's Eats

Makes 4 servings
Cook time: less than 10 minutes

Note:
Prepare garlic paste, chicken, broccoli, and noodles ahead of time.


8 oz shaped pasta (penne, bowties, or your favorite), cooked to package directions
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1/4 C roasted garlic paste (made from 2 heads of garlic)
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
1/4 C dry white wine
1 C low-sodium chicken broth
1 C shredded white cheddar cheese
1 pound of broccoli, cut into florets and steamed until crisp-tender
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled and cut into bite size pieces
Salt and pepper, to taste

Ahead of time:
(Takes about 75 minutes to cook, cool, and mash.) Make roasted garlic paste. Peel outside papery skin off two heads of garlic, leaving the heads still intact. Slice about a quarter off of the top of each head so that all the cloves are party exposed. Wrap the heads in foil and bake at 350 F for one hour. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool enough to tough, squeeze the garlic cloves out of the peels and smash with a fork to make roasted garlic paste.

Just before eating:
(All ingredients take less than 10 minutes to combine)


Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the roasted garlic paste and cook just until fragrant, 30-60 seconds.  Whisk the flour into the mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to turn golden brown, 1-2 minutes.  Stir the white wine and broth into the pan.  Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheddar and stir until melted.  Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Mix in the broccoli florets and chicken pieces, and cook just until heated through.  Mix in the cooked pasta until evenly coated with the sauce. Serve warm.

My Notes:
This was pretty good. The flavors were great; the garlic wasn't over-powering at all. It really did taste best immediately after cooking, though. It's not a great left-over.