Bowtie Alfredo Chicken

This recipe is one from Allen's family. It is for sure one of my favorite recipes! Ingredients needed to make this recipe:
1/2 cube Butter
Flour
16 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
2 tsp Salt
Pepper
2 Chicken Breasts
Italian Seasonings
Oil
1 lb Bowtie Noodles

1. Start by putting your chicken in a bag. Pour some oil into the bag with a LOT of Italian seasonings. Move everything around inside the bag to get the chicken fully coated.
2. Cook your chicken. I like to BBQ it but you can use and oven or stove if you need to. Chop up chicken into small squares.
3. Boil your water for your noodles. Put a little bit of oil into the water to help the noodles from sticking. Once your water comes to a boil, pour in your noodles. Let it boil for 12-15 minutes and then drain the water.
4. Get out a large sauce pan or medium size pot. Start making your rue. To make a rue you melt your butter and add flour to thicken it. I normally use about 4 tablespoons of flour per 1/2 cube of butter. Your rue is important because this is your thickening agent for your Alfredo sauce. If you do not do this step then your sauce will not thicken up.
5. Add in your whipping cream and make sure to continually keep stirring. The Alfredo sauce will burn if you don't stir continually. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens.
6. Add in about a 1/3 of the 6 oz container of shredded Parmesan cheese. **At this point if your sauce is a little too thick, then just add a little bit of milk.
7. Add a little bit of pepper and then add your salt. The key to good Alfredo sauce is a LOT of salt. Try a little bit of the sauce and add more salt if needed.
8. Pour the noodles, chicken, and sauce into a bowl and stir well. Serve on separate plates and add some garlic bread for a side. YUMMILICIOUS!

Calzones

My friend Chelsea gave me this recipe and it sure is a keeper!


(I lost the picture I took on my camera of our calzones, so I just found a random picture of calzones on the internet. They dont look as good as the ones I made, thats for sure!)

1 pkg active dry yeast (1 package=2 1/4 tsp)
1 Cup warm water
1 Tablespoon oil
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 Cups flour

1. Mix Yeast with water. Let it sit for a few minutes. Add the Sugar, Salt, and Oil. Slowly add the flour a little bit at a time. Knead well.
2. Spray a bowl with cooking spray and stick the dough inside the bowl and then turn the dough over. Cover with a towel and let it rise for an hour.
3. Take half the dough and roll it on a flat surface. Fill it with toppings of your choice on half of the rolled out dough. Flip the other side of your dough over the toppings and seal the edges by a fork.
4. Repeat step 3 with your other portion of dough.
5. Brush the tops of your calzones with butter. Cut a few slices into the top of your calzone to help your toppings heat in the oven.
6. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until dough is cooked and the tops are golden.

You can fill your calzones with whatever you want. I like to put Pizza sauce, Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, Sausage, and Mozerella cheese. You could make BBQ chicken ones, or whatever kind you want. The possibilities are endless!

YIELDS: 2 calzones

Rigatoni Sorrentino

1 pound Rigatoni
coarse salt
4 Cups Marinara sauce
1/2 pound Fresh Ricotta Cheese
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 1/2 Cups Parmigiano-Reggiano chese , grated

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and return to a boil. Add rigatoni and cook until al dente, according to package directions. Drain; set aside.

2. Preheat broiler. In a large saucepan, bring marinara sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour half the heated sauce into a large bowl; set aside. Add cooked rigatoni and ricotta to saucepan with remaining sauce; stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over low heat.

3. Pour pasta mixture into a baking dish and top with reserved sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Transfer baking dish to broiler and broil until cheese has melted, 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately.



This is what it looks like strait out of the oven. This meal is really good and so easy to make. I made it from start to finish in about 20 minutes. It's a great quick meal. I didn't feel like using Rigatoni noodles so I used a different kind of noodle instead! Enjoy!

Pizza Dough

1 Tablespoon Yeast
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Cup Warm Water
1 Cup Flour
1/2 Tablespoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Oil

1. Mix warm water, yeast, and salt.
2. Add sugar, oil, and flour. Mix well.
3. Knead until all flour is mixed. Let the dough rise in a covered bowl for appox 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
3. Pinch off a small amount and roll it out onto a floured surface into desired size.
4. Place onto sprayed pizza pan or stone. Add desired topping to make your delicious pizza.
5. Bake at 3500 for 20 to 25 minutes or until sides of dough are golden brown. Slice and serve!