easy pasta for tea (Rice & Pasta Dishes)

Member Name: georgiesue

Product:	Rice & Pasta Dishes
Date:	11/01/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to make with uncomplicated ingredients

Disadvantages: uses quite a lot of cheese so not for dieters

On first glance this recipe is not particularly novel and contains much of the staple ingredients of Italian cooking but it is so tasty and simple to make that I have been cooking this for my family for years and it is a firm favourite in my house. Even the baby loves it and the beauty of it is you can adapt it to use different ingredients that you may have lying around. I call it Pasta Penne.

You need

I packet of penne pasta (dried) . They are the short little tubes of pasta.

One can of plum tomatoes. Get the cheap ones as it works just as well with them

Clove of garlic

Cheese. We are heathens in our house and use chedder for cheapness but you could easily substitute an italian cheese.

One chicken breast for two persons you are feeding.

Smoked bacon. About one and a half to two rashers per person.

A slug of red wine if you have some lying around. It works fine without wine but is nice with it.

Ground black pepper and salt.

To make....

Cut the chicken in to small chunks and slice the bacon into smallish pieces. Put some olive oil in a frying pan and then fry the chicken first for a few minutes before adding the bacon and frying over a gentle heat until both are cooked. Then place the meat to one side for later.

Place penne pasta into a big pan of boiling, salted water and cook according to the instruction on the pack. Whilst this is cooking take the tinned tomatoes and place in a pan and give them a bit of a smash with a wooden spoon. Crush a clove of garlic and add this and also the wine if you are using it. Add a pinch of salt. Place the pan over a low heat and cook gently to allow time fo the garlic to infuse. Try not to let it boil.

Grate the cheese, again the amount is really to taste but you need a good couple of handfuls. Add the cheese to the hot tomato mixture and allow it to melt, stirring constantly.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add the meat to the pasta pan and give a good stir.

Finally, take the infused tomato sauce and cheese mixture and mix it into the pasta and meat and heat gently to rewarm the meat.

Serve in large bowls and add lots of ground black pepper over the top.

Its really delicious. you could add chopped mushrooms or other lightly cooked vegetables or substitute the meat for tuna if you fancy a change. Its cheap and makes loads so its economical too.

Summary: a great mid week dinner