Sunday Night Pasta

Or in other words: whatever's left at the end of the weekend. This is one of my favorite kinds of meals - a throw-together. I had originally planned on one thing, but used up the ingredients to make a kick ass breakfast without even thinking about it. So time to improvise!

So I won't give you a typical recipe for this. Instead I'll just walk you through it so you can make it with whatever you have left on Sunday nights as well. :) First, pick out your protein - I had some great boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut up into 1 inch pieces) that I needed to use. Done. Second, figure out what vegetables you have. For me it was carrots, celery and onions (chopped), as well as some garlic (sliced) and cherry tomatoes (halved). I also had a handful of Italian parsley that I could use, and some delicious grated Parmesan cheese. And for the pasta - I just happened to have a box of rigatoni shells (I often keep at least one box of pasta in the cupboard for just such an emergency).

Cook things in the order they will be done. I started with the chicken (in olive oil), and as soon as it was cooked on the outside, I added the carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Good time to season with salt & pepper. I also added half the parsley at this point, half I'll add at the very end (saving just a bit for garnish). By this time the water should be boiling and you could start your pasta cooking. When the pasta is nearly done, add the tomatoes to the chicken mixture - they don't need long at all to cook. Cook the pasta 1 - 2 minutes less than it says on the package, drain and add directly to the chicken mixture with the heat still on. Finish the pasta in the pan with everything else. Add some more parsley, and a couple of handfuls of parmesan cheese. Add a little more olive oil if necessary, or even a splash of the pasta water. Stir everything through and pile onto pasta dishes. Garnish with a little more parmesan, a bit of parsley, and a drizzle of oil.

That's my Sunday Night Pasta!