Happy Friday, y’all!
It’s been a long week and if you’re like us, then you’re probably looking forward to finally relaxing, and not to making a big elaborate meal. Unless big elaborate meals every day of the week are your thing, in which case, more power to you. That’s not me, though, and by the time Friday rolls around, I’m usually trying to think of which leftovers to reheat…!
When I don’t want to go the leftover route, though, this is one of my go-to Friday night recipes. This dish is great if you’re in a hurry to get dinner on the table: it requires very little prep and comes together in about 30 minutes using simple ingredients. So you can feel like you’ve got it all together and handle Friday night dinner like a boss 🙂
I should preface this recipe by confessing that I’m not realllly a big fan of cream-based sauces like alfredo or four-cheese anything — but I have come to terms with the fact that I can’t serve tomato-based sauces alllll the time. Someone once told me a story about a husband leaving his wife because she served him spaghetti bolognaise every night for dinner…
In hindsight, I wonder if they just made that story up because I served them spaghetti bolognese every time they came over for dinner, and they were trying to send me a message…? Anyway, the point is that whether you love creamy sauces, or if you’re like me and they’re not your favorite, you’ll probably still love this recipe. The creamy-ness isn’t overpowering, with just the right amount of cream and the right amount of tang.
Ingredients:
- 250 grams of rotini
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 clove of garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ cup greek yogurt*
- ½ cup heavy cream*
- 1 medium-sized chicken breast (cooked and cut into 2-inch cubes)
- 1 ½ cups of chicken stock
- 2 cups broccoli (cooked)**
- 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions:
- In a non-stick saucepan big enough to hold all of the ingredients, melt down the butter, then add in the minced garlic, salt & pepper, and flour whisking until smooth.
- Cook the flour & butter mixture for around 5 minutes, just to get rid of that raw flour taste, then slowly whisk in the chicken stock.
- Meanwhile, cook your pasta for 2 minutes less than the time indicated on the package (unless you like it softer than al dente, in which case cook per your pasta’s instructions).
- Whisk in the greek yogurt and heavy cream, and continue to cook until it has reduced to a smooth uniform mixture.
- Next, mix in the cooked & drained pasta, and the chicken and broccoli, stirring until evenly combined.
- If the sauce is too thick, then just add in a bit of water to thin it up a bit.
- Season with a sprinkle of salt & some fresh ground black pepper
- Serve hot with some crumbles of parmesan cheese on top!
Servings: 2 if served as a main dish, 4 if served as a side dish.
*If you want to make this recipe lighter, then you can use 1 cup of greek yogurt instead of the greek yogurt/heavy cream combination in the recipe. I prefer with cream though, because too much yogurt overpowers the dish a bit it and it comes out a bit too tangy for me. Though if you’re all about tangy chicken pasta, then go for it!
**I roasted my broccoli in the oven for about 10 minutes. Though sometimes I blanch it for this recipe: boiled for 30 seconds, then drained.
***This dish can be vegetarian-friendly by swapping out the chicken stock for veggie stock, and simply not adding the chicken.