A little bit of a lightened-up mac & cheese, with chicken and walnuts to round out the protein. (Walnuts add some heart-healthy oils.) You know I’m obsessed with using 1% lowfat cottage cheese in any type of cheese-based recipe. DON’T KNOCK IT ‘TIL YOU TRY IT!!! It’s amazing, and it will change your life.
I had leftover fat-free evaporated milk left over from when I made Steak Au Poivre, so I decided to make a creamy pasta. Combined with cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese, it made a pretty fantastic cheese sauce for my pasta.
Use a little bit of light Italian dressing to marinate the chicken while you cook other things. My favorite brand is Ken’s Light Italian salad dressing. (I had my 21st Birthday Party at the actual Ken’s Steakhouse in Framingham MA. They really do have fantastic salad dressing.)
Feel free to add in any kind of veggies you want! I used spinach because I needed to use it up.
Creamy Pasta With Chicken & Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast (cut into 1" pieces)
- 2 tablespoon low-fat Italian dressing
- 8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil spread (butter also works fine)
- 2 tablespoon garlic (finely minced)
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup fat free evaporated milk (or skim milk)
- ½ cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
- 2 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Use a sharp knife to remove the visible fat from the chicken breast. Cut the meat into 1-inch pieces. Place the chicken in a bowl with 2 tablespoons lite Italian dressing and toss to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in the fridge to marinate as you prepare the rest of the recipe.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions.
- Heat the olive oil spread in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil begins to sizzle, add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the flour to the skillet and cook for another minute more, stirring constantly.
- Gradually add the evaporated milk to the skillet, stirring constantly.
- Stir the cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese.
- Stir in the spinach leaves. Cook until just wilted.
- Stir in the black pepper.
- When the pasta is done cooking, drain the pasta reserving about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water. Return the drained pasta to the large pot.
- Pour the cheese sauce on top of the cooked pasta and stir it around until mixed. You might need to add a little bit of pasta cooking water to loosen up the sauce (optional.)
- Wipe the skillet clean and give it a light spritz of nonstick spray. Crank the heat up to medium-high and cook the chicken. You might need to work in 2 batches. Leave the chicken alone for a minute or two, so it develops a nice brown sear on it.
- Cook the chicken until completely browned. The chicken should no longer be pink in the center.
- While the chicken is cooking, chop up ¼ cup of walnuts.
- Spoon the pasta/cheese mixture into serving dishes and top with the chicken and chopped walnuts.
