Easy Italian Chicken Pasta

Finally! I'm going to share a super duper easy Italian dish that I sort of stumbled upon last week. Here's the background story...when I asked Brad if he had any requests for dinner he said "Some kind of pasta." So I went to the store and picked up some penne noodles (my second favorite type of noodle to bowtie), tomato sauce, and some sourdough bread to go with it.

I had three chicken breasts in the freezer from a previous meal that needed to be used so I defrosted them and then just stared at them....again, I am NOT a cook, we don't have a grill yet, and Brad was at school...my first thought, CRAP! What have I gotten myself into?! So I started cooking the noodles and continued to stare at the thawed chicken breasts, trying to think like a chef. Then I realized, they needed to be marinated in something that will give them some flavor so I started hunting around in my cabinets and refrigerator. VOILA! I found some Caesar Vinaigrette dressing and, remembering our fancy spice rack we got as a wedding present, some Italian Seasoning. I poured 1 cup of the vinaigrette and 1 Tablespoon of the seasoning into a gallon size plastic baggie and added the raw chicken breasts. I let that sit for about an hour before cooking them in a skillet on the stove. I just kept flipping them every so often to make sure they were getting done on both sides.

While the chicken and noodles were cooking, I rubbed some stick butter onto the top of the sourdough bread and stuck it in the over at 350degrees for about 8-10 minutes. I mixed some olive oil and parmesan cheese & garlic herbs into a little ramekin for dipping the bread in (like they do at Zio's or Johnny Carino's). I drained the noodles, sliced the chicken and bread up, warmed some sauce, and it was ready to eat!

Seriously. It was delicious, and I was super proud of myself because I didn't follow a recipe! It was also perfect for the two of us; we both ate some that night and then there was enough for me to take for lunch the next day and a little bit of leftovers. I felt very accomplished! Even Brad said something like "Wow this is really good!" and THAT right there is the best compliment ever! :) So there you have it, my "genius" recipe. If you're a great cook you're probably like, Wow, really that's all ya got? but you have to give me a break...I'm a baker!

Until next time ~ Jen

PS: Here is an easy reference recipe for the Italian Chicken & Pasta dish...

Easy Italian Chicken Pasta
(Adjust as needed for the size of your family, I made this amount for 2 people and still had leftovers)
What You Will Need:
     3 raw chicken breasts
     1 cup of Caesar Vinaigrette dressing
     1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning
     Any kind of noodles (your choice)
     Pasta sauce (your choice again, warm up the amount you think you will need)

What To Do:
1. Marinate the chicken breasts in the dressing and seasoning mix for at least an hour (I imagine if you did overnight it would enhance the flavor even more)
2. Cook noodles as directed; spray a skillet with cooking spray and place your marinated chicken breasts in the pan on Med/High heat until cooked thoroughly.
3. Slice up your chicken breasts how you like.
4. You can either warm your sauce up in a pan on the stove or in the microwave; put all the yummy ingredients into a bowl and ENJOY!