Tex Mex Fusion Skillet Pasta
Okay. First of all. Hands up for those of you who don’t like to do dishes. YEP. I see quite a few of you waving feverishly at me right now. What if I told you that you will only need to wash one dish for this meal. Yes. ONE. Only one. Just one. Okay maybe a few more but technically we are talking about ONE skillet.
AND.
You can serve your whole meal in this skillet. No fancy bowls. No platters. JUST A SKILLET.
One pot or skillet meals are clearly the way to roll.
If you really want to know the truth. Simply Beautiful Eating isn’t always “simply beautiful”. Oh ya. It’s presentable and of course for the camera it’s the star of the show but let’s be real here. There are no leaves and petals coming along for the ride when it finally hits the table.
I remember when the kids were small (I’m talking 20 years ago) I always wanted to serve my boys from a trough. They ate like it was their last meal and the mess that surrounded us in the kitchen still makes me tired just thinking about it. They wanted to EAT and they wanted it NOW. It was stove to table for these guys.
You know how you can buy dishes that are microwavable, oven proof and dishwasher safe? That’s what my kitchen wares consisted of….pots and pans that could go from here to there and there to here without melting or disintegrating. Sometimes a big ol’ pot would make it’s way over to the centre of the table and you know what? That’s absolutely FINE.
Here’s another fact. Cooking in one skillet or pot without having to boil your pasta first is nothing short of genius. So what did I make tonight that literally took me less than 30 minutes from stove to table?
Here ya go.
Tex Mex inspired creamy skillet chicken noodles.
Uh.
Delish looking right?
If you look closely, I also threw in some edamame.
Why?
Because I thought they were green peas and once again I WASN’T WEARING MY GLASSES!
I found the green peas afterwards and for some stupid reason the packaging is exactly the same.
Since there is edamame in here (which is totally optional) I guess you could call this dish Mexican Asian Fusion or TEXICANASIAN. Like that word?
The trick with doing a one pot meal revolves around cooking in a liquid that absorbs into the pasta. Chicken or vegetable broth is the staple to use because it gives the pasta a rich flavour and there isn’t a need to oversalt your dish. Also genius.
I think I covered all my bases here with this winner winner one skillet chicken dinner.
- ½ package wide egg noodles (I used half of a 360 gram bag)
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 tbls olive oil
- 1½ cups cooked diced or shredded chicken (I used leftover bbq chicken)
- 1½ cups of mixed vegetables, fresh or frozen (I used a mix of black beans, brocolli, corn, peas, carrots, red pepper and by mistake edamame - you know what? It was good)
- pinch of kosher salt
- fresh pepper to taste
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- ½ cup jalapeño havarti cheese, shredded
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ cup of water
- 2 tbls flour
- Fresh parsley for garnish if desired
- Place noodles in a large skillet.
- Add stock and olive oil and stir with noodles.
- If you are using frozen veggies add them now. If they are fresh, steam them first and set aside.
- Cover skillet and bring to a slow boil over medium heat.
- Cook for at least 10 -12 minutes or until noodles are soft.
- Add in your fresh steamed veggies if you are using them instead of frozen ones.
- Add in chicken, milk, cheese, fresh pepper and cayenne.
- Mix the ¼ cup of water with flour until it is smooth and there are no lumps (this is called a slurry)
- Add your slurry to the noodles and chicken mixture SLOWLY, stirring constantly.
- Heat to boiling and cook for 5 more minutes. Serve hot and garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
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