Ww Chicken and Pasta

Submitted by ellie_

"Fast, easy and low fat (and doesn't taste like it)- the ideal solution for a weeknight supper. If you are following the WW plan, this is 6 points/serving. The original recipe called for pecorino Romano cheese but I used Swiss (as that is what I hand on hand). Recipe source: WW Magazine (Nov 2007)"

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 3⁄4 lb whole wheat pasta (I used fusilli)
• 3 (1/4 lb) boneless skinless chicken breast
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1⁄2 cups nonfat milk (or use 1 cup fat free half and half and 1/2 cup skim milk)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1⁄8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1⁄4 cup swiss cheese, grated (see note in description)
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• pecorino romano cheese, shaved (garnish) (optional)

directions

1. Cook pasta according to package dirctions, drain.
2. While pasta is cooking sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
3. Spray a skillet or ridged grill pan with Pam or other cooking spray and set pan over medium high heat.
4. Add chicken to pan and cook until cooked through (5-10 minutes per side). Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let cool for 5 minutes. Cut chicken into 1/2 inch cubes and set aside.
5. In a bowl whisk together milk (or half and half and milk), flour, nutmeg and the remaining salt and pepper.
6. Melt butter in a skillet (I used the same one I cooked the chicken in) over medium high heat.
7. Add garlic, cook stirring for one minute.
8. Whisk in milk mixture and cook whisking constanly until mixture bubbles and is thickened 2-5 minutes.
9. Stir in cooked pasta, chicken, grated cheese and parsley until heated through (1-3 minutes).
10. Serve with shaved cheese (if using).

Reviews

[Lyssie71]

Really, really liked this recipe. You canNOT tell it's "diet". I love those kinds of recipes, don't you?! I made some changes - I added about 1 to 1-1/2 cup of frozen veggies to the same water I cooked the noodles in, I cooked the garlic and cut-up chicken at the same time, including some crushed red pepper. I used only 1 T. of light I can't believe it's not butter, and used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I also used romano cheese instead of Swiss, and upped it to a 1/3 c. (but didn't garnish with any) and omitted nutmeg, but added crushed red pepper. Basically the same recipe, just modified a bit. I also took the author's suggestion and used 1 c. FF 1/2 and 1/2 and 1/2 c. of 1% milk. The recipe turned out beautifully and I think a better name for it would be WW Creamy Pasta with Chicken and Vegetables. Thank you for posting! Very yummy! (Oh yeah, I got 8 2-cup servings from my version....)

 

[jessi_mcg]

I am so excited--I can finally fulfill one of DH's frequent requests without cooking up a real gutbuster or trying to make alfredo out of mushroom soup! This was really delish. I pretty much followed the recipe to a "T" except I used leftover chicken (about 1 1/2 c) instead of cooking fresh. I eyeballed the garlic, pepper, and salt, and for recipes like this my eyeball tends to be generous LOL, but I thought the flavor was spot on. I used linguini and some mizithra cheese that was languishing in my cheese drawer. I would imagine the cheese choice makes a lot of flavor difference here--I don't think it would work without something aged and/or somewhat piquant. Served with broccoli, and DH thought it was better with his broccoli stirred in. Thanks for posting, this is going straight to the keeper file.

 

[Jadelabyrinth]

My husband made this for me tonight and I enjoyed it very much! He made it a grated combination of romano, asiago, and parmesan and slightly less than 2 cloves of garlic. I would make only two minor adjustments: increase the pepper to 1/2 t. and decrease the amount of noodles to perhaps 1/2lb. I like saucy foods and felt that it was spread a bit to thin. Of course that will probably decrease the servings and the point value would need adjusted, but I feel the taste would be worth it. Thanks!

 

[mariposa13]

This was okay. I usually like ww recipes but this one tasted kinda bland. I also used grated swiss since I couldn't find the romano. Just needs more flavor.