Parmesan Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

I was planning on making this (hopefully) delicious Latin Chicken with sweet potatoes and black beans in my slow cooker today.  But…I used the rest of the rice yesterday making curry.  Alas, it’ll have to wait until we get a chance to go to the store.  Sooo, instead, today was basically a random-stuff-in-the-fridge pasta.  The best kind of pasta?  Perhaps.  Definitely always an adventure.  I decided to go with a cream sauce made with the rest of the heavy cream, a half bottle of sun-dried tomatoes, random leftover asparagus and green onions that definitely needed to be eaten like now.  It turned out quite delicious, actually.  Very rich and creamy, definitely not the most diet friendly pasta…whatever I went on a run before I made dinner, so that makes it ok, right?  If you’re not at all concerned about the calorie count, add a few slices of crumbled bacon…that would REALLY make this fabulous.

The only adjustment I’d make, was that the asparagus was really superfluous.  The creaminess of the sauce and the strong flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes really over-powered them.  Oh well, they had to be eaten anyway.  Instead, I’d suggest adding sliced mushrooms.  If I’d had any in the fridge, I definitely would have used those as well, I’m going to put them in the recipe here, because I’d definitely including them the next time I make this recipe.  You could easily make this pasta vegetarian by omitting the chicken.  The flavors are great and the dish as a whole would be just fine without it.

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 tbsp olive oil

1 chicken breast, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 small onion, diced

1/2 c mushrooms, sliced

1 c heavy cream

1/4 c white wine

1/4 c Parmesan cheese

1 cube chicken bouillon

1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes

4 green onions, sliced

1/4 tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste

8 oz pasta

Directions:

1. Saute chicken in olive oil over medium heat.  After 2-3 minutes, add garlic, onions and mushrooms and saute until onions become translucent.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions

3. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream, wine, cheese, b0uillon, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, paprika, salt, and pepper.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.  Adjust spices to taste.