Try Chef Jake’s Pasta Recipe for your Valentine

by | Feb 10, 2015 | Entrees, Holiday

Chicken with Roasted Grape Tomatoes & Parmesan Cream Sauce 

Great for a special Valentine, this deliciously creamy sauce is perfect served over your favorite pasta. (Chef Jake’s tip – choose a pasta with spirals to hold more sauce!) Easy and fun to make together, this entree is Valentine’s Day dinner perfect with the addition of just a simple side salad.

INGREDIENTS

10 grape tomatoes
olive oil
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh garlic (minced)
3 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme (minced)
1½ tablespoons fresh basil (minced)
1/3 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
2-3 servings of your favorite pastaPreheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss the tomatoes in a teaspoon of olive oil, lightly salt and place on a sheet pan. Roast tomatoes in the oven about 10 minutes or until skin begins to split and wrinkle.  Allow them to cool slightly and remove the skins.Thinly slice the chicken breast. Heat a skillet to med/high heat and coat with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil; when oil is hot add the chicken and season with salt and pepper.  Cook, allowing the chicken slices to brown on the outside and cook thoroughly.  Remove and set aside – keeping it warm.Heat a sauce pan on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the minced garlic to the pan and cook until it softens and becomes aromatic. Add the skinless roasted tomatoes to the sauce pan; using a spoon or spatula smash the tomatoes then allow them to cook for a couple of minutes. Add the cream and increase the heat to med/med high to allow the cream to slowly boil while stirring frequently.  Cook until the cream is reduced by about 1/4. At this point it will appear to be a thin sauce, reduce the heat to a simmer.Prepare your pasta according to the package directions.

Stir in tomato paste, thyme and basil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the parmesan cheese to finish and thicken the sauce. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Stir in the chicken and serve immediately over your favorite pasta.

Easy Summertime cooking

by | Jun 13, 2014 | Entrees

Summertime is one of the busiest times of year. Most home cooks are looking for quick and easy meals while some are looking to use the grill more often to keep the oven heat out of the house.

At Fresh Chef Experience our two Specific-interest based experiences, Great Grillin’ and The Farmers Market Basket are the most request recipes to learn. So I have included a recipe we taught at Williams-Sonoma in May on making Pesto with hardy greens. Pestos with pasta make quick and easy meals. The oven isn’t needed so your kitchen won’t heat up on those hot summer days. Try this version with almost any hardy greens or nut combination.

Hardy Greens Pesto with Pasta 
 

12 ounces washed and cleaned hardy greens such as arugula, dandelion, mustard, kale, turnip greens

1 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled

6 tbls nuts, lightly toasted, such as walnut or pine nuts

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

2 1/2 oz Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated

1 lb dried pasta, cooked to package directions

Put about one-third of the greens in a food processor, blender or Vitamix with the olive oil and chop for a minute, scraping down the sides. Add the remaining greens in two batches, until they’re all finely chopped up.

Add the garlic cloves, toasted nuts, salt, and Parmesan, and process until everything is a smooth puree. Taste, and add more salt if necessary. If it’s too thick, you can thin it with more olive oil.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Add the pasta water to the pesto to create a sauce then toss with the pasta. Top with extra Parmesan.

Look for Chef Stu and Chef Kathy at Williams-Sonoma this month on June 28th for Part One of our Great Grillin series. We will be there from 3:00-4:30 – hope you can join us.