Tasty Thursday {chicken with tomatoes and garlic}

Happy Thursday y'all! Almost through the week. It's been gross and rainy here most of the week, but at least it washed the pollen away!

This week's recipe is one of the Pioneer Woman's from Tasty Kitchen. I actually found it about 4 or 5 months ago and it is a quick, easy throw together meal that my husband approves. Here's the link on Tasty Kitchen.

Sorry, no pictures. Boring, I know. But Ree's will be better than mine anyway!

What you need:
* 8 boneless, skinless breasts
* Salt And Pepper, to taste
* 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 1 Tablespoon Butter
* 1 can (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
* 1 can (14 Ounces) Whole Tomatoes
* 2 Tablespoons (Heaping) Tomato Paste
* Fresh Herbs: Basil, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary
* 8 cloves Garlic
* 16 ounces, weight Pasta
* ½ cups White Wine (or Red Wine)

What you do:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Salt and pepper chicken legs.

Heat ovenproof skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and butter. When oil/butter is hot, add chickento the pan. Using tongs, brown on all sides, about 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.

Pour in wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits. Cook for 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes with their juice and add tomato paste. Add salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Bring sauce to a boil, then turn off heat. Add plenty of fresh herbs, 8 cloves of peeled (but whole) garlic, and the chicken. Put lid on pot and cook in the oven for 1 hour.

Remove pot from oven and allow it to sit on the counter with the lid on while you boil the pasta.

Cook the pasta to al dente, Drain and add to a large serving bowl.

Remove lid and check sauce. If it’s overly thin, remove the chicken from the pot and boil the sauce on the stovetop for 5 to 10 minutes. Check seasonings and adjust as needed.

To serve, pour sauce over cooked pasta, then arrange chicken pieces over the top. Sprinkle generously with fresh Parmesan and serve with crusty French bread.

It was really good y'all! A refreshing, light sauce.

Tasty Thursday - Spaghetti!

Spaghetti!! a favorite of everyone.  This is a variation of my mom's recipe (basically I just add more veggies). Here's how I do it:

Heat 1tbsp Olive Oil in a big soup pot.

Add 1 lb lean ground hamburger (or turkey!) and brown.

While the meat is browning, chop up one large onion.
 

And one large green pepper.  And about 3-4 gloves of garlic (or just use minced garlic)

 

And carrots! This is simply for getting in extra veggies.  The carrots add no flavor to this recipe.  I do not have picky veggie eaters around here, so I just chop 'em.  If you do have picky eaters, chop 'em up finer or puree them before adding to the sauce.

When the meat is mostly brown, add the onions to the pot and cook until just soft.

 

then add the peppers

and the carrots and the garlic and give it all a stir or two

add two large (28 oz) cans of diced tomatoes (use no salt added so that you can control the amount of sodium in the sauce) and one small can of tomato paste.  In the summer, I substitute as many fresh tomatoes as our garden has produced, but canned works just fine also!

looking good!

 

add some fresh ground black pepper, salt, oregano, and lots and lots of Italian Seasoning (close to 1/4 cup) Stir it all around and let it cook for a while.  It is ready to eat once it is heated up, but I think it tastes better if you let it cook for 3-4 hours (covered on low).  Taste it after about 30 minutes to make sure it has enough salt and Italian Seasoning.

Yummy, yummy!