Pinning it Down Tuesday

 

I tried two recipes off Pinterest this week.  They aren't the healthiest, but they are crowd pleasers!

The first was Crispy Cheddar Chicken.  It was one of those baked "fried" chicken recipes where you dip the chicken in milk and cracker crumbs.  But the difference here was that you dipped them in shredded cheddar before the cracker crumbs.  Made for a very tasty and moist crust!   My hard-core chicken finger lovers turned their noses up a bit, but I think it might grow on them!  (As usual, excuse the horrible phone photos!  I'm hoping to find a new little camera very soon, like on my birthday this weekend!)

The next dish...I just wasted a half hour of my life trying to find it again!  It was based on this recipe which I had pinned.  But somehow I did some searches and came up with this recipe, which is what I used, but can't be pinned since there's no photo!  I halved it since I wasn't sure how well everyone would like it.

As you can see below, it was very well received and I shouldn't have halved it!  The sauce was great and reminded me of the alfredo dish at the Cheesecake Factory.  I liked that it uses chicken broth and regular milk, since many of these creamy pasta dishes use heavy cream.  It also uses mozzarella, which I usually have on-hand.  I'll post the recipe below with some adjustments so I can have it for safe-keeping, because my family will want it again!  I'll write it for a full recipe in a rectangular baking dish, not the square one like pictured here.  We ate it with salad, but I think it would be great with broccoli in the dish, or on the side, too!

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
based on this recipe on food.com

Ingredients:
1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 t minced garlic (I used 2 cloves for our half recipe)
20oz chicken broth (I used about 1/3 of a garlic-flavored box, for our half recipe)
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 T basil
1c shredded mozzarella cheese
2 grilled chicken breasts, cubed
1 c sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
1 box/bag penne pasta

Directions:
1. Set oven to 375 and cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Melt butter, then stir in flour, salt, pepper, and garlic.
3. Stir in chicken broth, milk and basil.
4. Bring to a boil. Boil for one minute.
5. Stir in mozzarella until melted.  Add sun-dried tomatoes.
6. Place cooked and drained pasta at the bottom of a greased 9x13 glass baking dish.
7. Top with chicken, then pour cream sauce over chicken.
8. Add a bit more shredded mozzarella if you like, and bake until bubbly (about 25 mins).