Delish Dish

I love to eat pasta ~ especially pasta in a creamy, garlic sauce. Toss in some chicken and broccoli and I'm over the moon!

Last year, Olive Garden had a dish called Chicken con Broccoli. It was incredible. I rarely eat out, but on occasion, I had the good fortune to eat there and both times, I got that dish. It was a specialty item, so it's gone from the menu ~ and, with our current Dave Ramsey budget, it wouldn't matter ~ I don't splurge on dinner out anymore.

But, I still wanted that dish! I tried to remake it - but I'm not super good at figuring out the hidden ingredients or the spice combo. Saturday, at the chess tournament (1 more to go!) Stacy was surfing the net via her phone and we happened to be talking recipes. I mentioned that I'd tried to find one for this dish, but hadn't been successful... a few clicks and voila! She had it!

So, here it is - and yes, it was over the moon time for me! Exactly how I remembered it!

Chicken w/ Broccoli
I doubled the recipe for my family size and we had enough leftover for lunch the next day.

1.5 pounds of chicken breast, thinly sliced
2 tsp Olive Oil
4 oz dried Orecchiette pasta (I used a full pound)
1 c heavy cream
1/2 c chicken broth
4 T salted butter
2 tsp garlic, sliced
1/2 c shredded green onions
1 c sour cream
1 1/3 c broccoli, fresh, cut into small pieces
1 c sliced mushrooms
2 T flour (I used cornstarch instead)
2 T water
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp Garlic Salt
Salt & Pepper to taste
Shredded Parmesan Cheese (I left it out as we didn't have any)

1. Season chicken w/ Italian seasoning & garlic salt.
2. Cook in olive oil & garlic until brown.
3. Stir in mushrooms & green onions; cook 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in broth and broccoli. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
5. Mix flour into water. Make sure there are no lumps (this is why I used cornstarch.)
6. Pour flour/water mixture into chicken, stirring until sauce thickens.
7. Slowly add butter, cream and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Cook on low heat while pasta cooks.
9. Drain pasta; add to sauce. Remove from heat. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
10. Serve and Enjoy!
    

It seems like there are a lot of steps involved, but it went together in under 3o minutes. Everyone gave it a "10" and it's going onto the must have rotation. Oh, and I did use low fat sour cream because I bet the calorie count on this one is incredible!