Chicken Pasta

This is one of my favorite pasta dishes and I have to thank my sister-in-law, Michelle, for the recipe!  I love it, and since there are only 2 1/2 of us eating in our house, I am usually able to freeze half of it for a future meal.  If you're really trying to plan ahead and freeze a lot of meals, just double or triple the recipe and you'll get even more!

This recipe calls for canned Italian tomatoes.  I rarely buy canned tomatoes, but when I do, I stock up.  I wait for them to go on sale, but not just any sale.  It has to be an amazing sale.  I can usually sweeten the deal by adding coupons on top of the sales savings.  By doing this, I hardly ever have to pay full price for them!


Chicken Pasta
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup each: chopped onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper*
1/3 cup chopped celery
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 can (14.5 oz) Italian diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon (or use a 14.5 oz can of chicken broth and omit the water)
2/3 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tsp dried basil
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
12 oz spiral pasta
2 cups boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

*I like lots of veggies in mine, so I usually end up putting in at least 3/4 cup of each one.

 In a skillet, saute onions, peppers, celery, and garlic in oil until tender.  Stir in tomatoes, water, bouillon, mushrooms, and seasonings.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, cook pasta according to package directions and drain.  Add chicken and Parmesan cheese to the tomato mixture.  Discard bay leaves.  Serve sauce over noodles.

 Note: This sauce is quite thin, which I don't mind.  However, if you want to thicken it up a bit, you can add a little tomato sauce (I added a 4 to 5 tablespoons to mine) or maybe even try tomato paste (I haven't tried it and therefore don't know how it would affect the flavor).  Additionally, I should have specified that it's only the sauce that's freezable.  You'll want to make fresh noodles each time!