Creamy pasta sauce is delicious, but it is mildly intimidating throwing a whole stick of butter in a pot to make alfredo sauce. Here is a creamy sauce that has a tomato base and is actually not full of fat. The only fat is the bit of olive oil, garlic butter, and the Laughing Cow cheese (which actually is not even too bad for you!) Don't worry though. The next food item I'll blog about is going to be absolutely horrendously unhealthy. It'll all even out.
Ingredients:
1 package wheat farfalle pasta (boil in salted water based on box instructions to al dente)
1 T olive oil
1 T garlic butter
1 large clove fresh garlic
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tsp flour
1/2 can tomato sauce (so use 7.5 ounces)
1 T marjoram
1 T dried basil leaves (or 1 handful fresh)
1 T garlic powder
red wine vinegar, as needed
sugar, to taste
1-2 lbs chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1 and 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach (defrosted and squeezed dry)
1 c frozen peas
2 triangles Light Swiss Laughing Cow cheese
2 T milk (we used 2%)
Start by cooking the pasta. Meanwhile, saute fresh garlic in olive oil and garlic butter until the garlic smells amazing and is golden. Add the diced tomatoes and saute until some water evaporates. Next, add the flour and stir until the contents of the pan look like a chunky paste. Then, add the tomato sauce, marjoram, basil, and garlic powder. Salt and pepper to taste, and add sugar to balance the acidity. Taste the sauce as you go (unless there is raw chicken in there). Steve put in too much sugar, so he added a splash of red wine vinegar to add some more acidity. Throw in the cubed chicken and allow it to cook in the sauce for 5-7 minutes (depending on how big your chicken chunks are). Once the chicken has almost entirely cooked, add spinach, peas, laughing cow cheese, and milk. Stir until the cheese melts. If you want more creaminess, add more cheese. If it looks too thick, add more milk. Finally, put the finishing touches on by adding salt and pepper to taste.