Sun Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta

Y'all know what a fan I am of fast, easy, and delicious meals. This recipe has it all, folks, plus veggies, too! A hometown friend of mine, Dawn, created this fab dish and was gracious enough to share it with me.

The first two words I saw in the recipe were "goat cheese." SOLD!! I love goat cheese, but rarely have the opportunity to eat it, much less cook with it. The rest of the recipe could have included sardines and sauerkraut (two foods I wouldn't cook or eat), and I would still have made it, just for the goat cheese. Thankfully, Dawn's recipe included yummy ingredients like sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, Alfredo sauce and mushrooms. Mmmmm!! And did I mention this takes no time at all to make? 30 minutes, and you're sitting at the table, enjoying a scrumptious meal!




Sun Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta
Recipe courtesy Dawn Norris
2/3 box of penne rigatte (must use the rigatte…it soaks up the sauce better)
1 package of broccoli-in-the-bag
1 tablespoon butter
Olive oil
½ of medium onion, diced
1 package of sliced mushrooms (if you're like my husband, you can pick these out or omit them. I happen to think mushrooms are quite yummy)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 jar (or more if you love sun dried tomatoes) of sun dried tomatoes, julienned (I couldn't find a jar, so I just used the package from the produce section)
½ of roasted chicken, cut up in big chunks, or 1 package of the precooked Tyson chicken strips
1 jar of Sun dried Tomato Alfredo pasta sauce (Classico is best)
Salt
Pepper
Container of goat cheese crumbles
1/3 cup of parmesan (optional)

Boil your pasta. Use about 2/3 the box of penne for about six people.

While pasta is boiling (that is literally all the time it takes to make this dish), put “broccoli in the bag” to steam.

Put butter and about two turns of olive oil (I always use some of the oil from the sun dried tomato jar) in LARGE sauté pan on medium to high heat. Begin sautéing onions. Once onions start to soften, place the mushrooms into the pan and begin cooking. When mushrooms are beginning to brown, add the garlic, sun dried tomatoes, chicken, broccoli, and jar of sun dried tomato Alfredo sauce. Add salt & pepper to your liking. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Lower heat to very low.

At this point, the noodles should be done. Add the noodles to the sauce pan directly from the pot using a slotted spoon or strainer (you want a little of the pasta water to get into the sauce mix—it helps the sauce stick to the pasta better).

Pour into a big pasta bowl (this feeds at least 6 people). Mix in the container of goat cheese crumbles and sprinkle on parmesan (optional).

Enjoy!