What's for Dinner?: Chicken Broccoli and Ziti

What better way to bring families together than with food.  I had a friends over as they lost power on Saturday night with the rest of the town. We are one of the lucky few that maintained power.  Being a Sunday, road's a mess, was not driving to the supermarket with all the downed wires and trees (we lost our share of trees) we were able to have friends over for dinner as they too lost power and at least offer a hot meal and a warm home.  Patriots could have done better.  Here's hoping for a better game next week.   

Here is a dish that I know most people will like (my guests sure did)  but doesn’t have as much fat because I’ve omitted the cream.  It’s Chicken Broccoli and Ziti, with Baked Stuffed Tomatoes and Tossed Salad and That’s What’s for Dinner. Add some Snickerdoodles and your meal is complete.

Chicken Broccoli and Ziti

1-2Lbs Chicken cut up or tenderloins

4 T Butter

5 Cloves Garlic Mashed and chopped

1 Onion Chopped

6 Sprigs Fresh Thyme Leaves stem removed

1 Cup White Wine

2 Cups Chicken Broth

Red Pepper Flakes

Kosher Salt and Pepper

3 T Flour

3 T Sundried Tomatoes

2 Full heads of Fresh Broccoli or 1 Large Bag Frozen cuts

1 Lb Penne Pasta or your favorite Pasta

3 T Asiago Cheese or Parmesan Cheese

Directions: Cook pasta according to package, drain and set aside. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.

Salt and Pepper chicken pieces, place in a hot sauté pan with 3 T melted butter. Cook till no longer pink. Remove, cover and set aside, keep warm.  To the pan add the onions, garlic and thyme, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes, cook till the onions are soft and wilted, add the Flour stirring all the bits then add the 1 Cup of Wine then add the chicken broth, bring to a boil and simmer. 

Cook broccoli till crispy (microwave or on top of stove) don’t overcook it. 

Add the chicken back to the sauce, then the broccoli and serve over the penne pasta. Use the pasta water if the sauce is too thick. If you like add the sundried tomatoes to the pan for more flavor.

Stuffed Plum Tomatoes

Here is a recipe that is not mine but is a great accompaniment to the dish above. I
tweaked it a bit by adding garlic the original recipe doesn’t call for it, but garlic always makes things taste better. Plum tomatoes really don’t have much taste. Most people use them to make sauces and by baking them or slow roasting them, it lets the flavors develop and turn sweet.  It’s stuffed plum tomatoes and can be served warm or cold.  What I love about this recipe it looks great, tastes great and really is quick to make and will impress. 

6 Plum Tomatoes

1 Clove garlic diced

The pulp from the tomatoes

1/2 Cup shredded provolone cheese

Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Black pepper and salt

Olive Oil

Tip:  If you don’t have provolone cheese you can use mozzarella. I didn’t shred mine, I had sliced provolone so I cubed it and placed it in the filling, still comes out really good.

Directions: Cut the plum tomatoes in half, seed them and remove the pulp, chop up fine and move to a bowl. Add the garlic, shredded provolone, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Mix and scoop filling inside tomatoes, drizzle each tomato with olive oil and Bake at 375 for 35 mins. Serve warm or cold.

What better way to round out a meal is with a little sweetness. Snickerdoodles it is.  I’ve never made them at all. My daughter decided she wanted to bake so I let
her. Glad I did. These cookies are soft, delicious and full of flavor. It won't disappoint. They won’t last for long!

Snickerdoodles

1 Cup Butter

1½ Cups Sugar

2Large Eggs

2 Teaspoons Cream of Tarter

Dry Ingredients

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

¼Teaspoon Salt

2¾ Cups Flour

Topping

3 Tablespoons Sugar

3 Tablespoons Cinnamon

Directions: 

Preheat oven 350 Mix butter, 1 1/2 Cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a bowl. Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture. Chill Dough and an ungreased cookie sheet for 10-15 mins in the fridge. Meanwhile combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Scoop 1 inch balls/globs of dough into the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Coat by gently rolling the ball in the mixture. Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet and bake 10 mins (my oven required longer). Remove from pan immediately.

We didn’t chill the pan, we used a non stick silpat to bake the cookies on or you could use parchment paper. 

Hope you enjoy!