Chicken Puttaa…what? I am not Italian but trying!

So living with a boyfriend who grew up in an Italian household comes with its challenges. The big one is finding meals. One thing you will learn about me is red sauce makes my stomach turn. I am not sure what it is but the smell and the consistency do not sit well with me. So the only pasta dinners I generally make are with alfredo or just plain pasta with butter. However, this dish I decided to try since he was craving some of that Italian cooking. And you know what? I liked it!

We of course made a few adjustments to make it the perfect recipe for us. The first part that made me a little put off was the name Chicken Puttanesca with Angel Hair Pasta. I could not tell you what a Puttanesca is but I can tell you it is tasty!

For those who want the original recipe you can find it here.

For those who want to try my adapted recipe (small changes only) find it here:

What you need:

1 box angel hair pasta

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Muir Glen Organic)

3 tablespoon capers

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon oregano

What to do:

Cook pasta in salted water until al dente

In separate frying pan cook chicken until golden

Add remaining ingredients mixing well.

Combine when completed.

Simple and easy recipe! We bought Parm cheese to add but we forgot and it was just as good without it. Feel free to add it for a little extra taste. I have to say the red pepper gave it so much of a kick I didnt need the cheese at all!

And my favorite part? The capers! I was weary of them the first few times I tried them but they are certainly growing on me. The salt lover in me is dissapointed that I didn’t fall in love with them on first bite.

Try this recipe out this week and let me know what you thought!

Nut Free Spinach Pesto!

I am sure I have mentioned this on the blog before- but this girl is allergic to nuts. This makes a few things tough to eat. But nonetheless I like to try different things. I tend to get bored with the same old thing over and over so I am constantly on the look-out for something good and different. After a particular dinner I had a bunch of left over spinach and no idea what to do with it. I reached out to the vast knowledge of Facebook users and got an interesting idea, Spinach Pesto over pasta.

After this was suggested to me I took to Google. To my dismay I learned that this is generally made with nuts. No bueno! So I searched again and found this recipe. This also gave me an excuse to whip out my blender I had yet to use!

The pesto came out great we would only change a few things. To start more olive oil! The pesto was super hard to blend so I found myself adding more and more olive oil to get the creamy consistency we were going for.

Also, the pesto absolutely needs to be heated! Cold pesto on hot pasta is not ideal. If the pesto was warmer I am sure it would have been a hit.

Finally, MORE CHEESE. Can never had enough cheese right? This recipe needed some cheese to jazz it up a bit! Might hurt the health factor a little but still it is an overall healthy meal!

Do you guys have a favorite pesto you like over pasta? Share in the comments below!