Pasta how I love thee. Your simple ability to pair well with cream or tomato sauce as well as any meat keeps me from starving on busy weeknights. You are my true love….well one of them…..because I do love several foods.
Okay so that poem may not be recognized as a true literary work when I no longer occupy this place we call earth but at least you laughed. Maybe a little.
In all seriousness, though, pasta is pretty hard to pass up. The Italians did the world right by creating such a versatile food. Just the other night, as a matter of fact, I cooked two separate meals using Macaroni aka, elbow noodles. One recipe was Mac n Cheese, the other was American Goulash.
Two meals one noodle.
For the recipe below you will be taking the concept of Fettucine Alfredo but changing the noodles. After all, it’s the Alfredo sauce we are after the noodles can be changed to whatever you want or in my case, what have in your pantry at the time of making this recipe.
This Alfredo pasta features three kinds of cheese as well as grilled chicken and broccoli making this a complete meal the whole family will love.
Even your pickiest eater will gladly pick up the fork and make their way to the bottom of the bowl.
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne noodles
- 1 1⁄2 cups grilled chicken diced
- 1 1⁄2 cups of broccoli, steamed
Three Cheese Alfredo Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 ounces mascarpone cheese
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste (approximately 1/8 teaspoon each)
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- optional- shredded parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
- While the pasta is cooking, make your three cheese alfredo sauce by melting the butter on medium heat in a large pan along with the garlic. Stir for 1 minute allowing the garlic to cook but make sure it does not brown. Add your heavy whipping cream, parmesan, and onion powder. Allow sauce to simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add the mozzarella cheese at this point. Stir until it melts completely.
- At this point, add the pasta, chicken, and broccoli. Turn down the heat to low, add the mascarpone cheese and season with salt and pepper to your liking.
- Allow the pasta, chicken, and broccoli to heat up for 1 minute in the sauce. Serve immediately.
Modified Recipe from: The Recipe Critic
Photo source: Big Bear’s Wife
