Creamy Greek Rigatoni

A bit of Feta Cheese and some kalamata olives lend a delicious Greek-ness to this fresh-tasting creamy pasta!

For this recipe, you need to be able to cook pasta, create a simple sauce on the stove (it’s easier than it sounds!) and stir stuff together.  It’s pretty easy, just follow along!

Here’s what you need to make Creamy Greek Rigatoni:

• 1 package of rigatoni pasta
• 1 500mL carton of heavy cream (35%)
• 1 small brick of Feta Cheese
• a few Kalamata olives
• 1 small green pepper
• 3 Roma tomatoes
• 1/2 small white onion
• 1 bunch of fresh oregano
• a little bit of Liquid Chicken
• a little bit of white wine
• 1 or 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 2 tbsps of butter/margarine
• 2 tbsps of flour
• a few green onions

 Here’s how to make it:

1.  Use your toaster oven or regular oven to cook the chicken.  See this link if you need more tips on how to cook a chicken breast.  Once it’s cooked, put it aside to cool.

2.  Follow the directions on the rigatoni package to cook the pasta.  See this link for pasta-cooking tips!

Cooking rigatoni

3.  While the rigatoni is cooking, put a big non-stick pan on the stove on medium heat.  Pour a bit of white wine into the pan.  I usually pour in about half a glass or so – I can’t bear to part with any more than that.  Let the wine heat up until it’s all nice and bubbly.

Wine cooking in a pan, all nice and bubbly

4.  After the wine has bubbled for a few minutes, pour in the heavy cream.  Then use a whisk to blend the wine and the cream together.  (NOTE:  Do not substitute milk for the cream – milk and wine do not mix!)

Pouring cream in with the wine – it will look funny until you whisk it all up

Whisking it all up

5.  Pour a little bit of Liquid Chicken (liquid concentrated chicken stock) and whisk it in.  Don’t add more than one tablespoon or it will overpower the deliciousness of the other flavors in the meal.

Adding the tasty liquid chicken

6.  Let the mixture cook for a bit and allow it to slowly boil.

7.  As your sauce is slowly boiling, take a small mug and put a couple of spoonfuls of butter/margarine in it.  Spoon in a couple of spoonfuls of flour.  Use a fork to blend the flour and the butter/margarine together until there’s no more clumps.

A creamy butter and flour mixture

8.  Stir the floury butter into the cream sauce and quickly whisk it in, stirring for a few minutes to get that flour/butter all nicely blended with the sauce.  The flour/butter will help the sauce to thicken.

9.  Slice up your cooked chicken breast into the size you want it to be for the pasta.  I like mine in smaller pieces, but some people like it in bigger pieces.  It’s up to you!

Stirring yummy chicken into the sauce

10.  Take a fresh bunch of oregano leaves and quickly chop it up.  Then add it to the creamy sauce.

Oregano all chopped up

Oregano all chopped up and added to the creamy sauce

11.  Slice up some green onions and put them aside in a bowl.

Fresh green onion!

12.  Dice up half a small white onion and add it to the bowl with the green onions.

Diced up white onions

13.  Dice up some green peppers and add them into the bowl with the onions.

Green peppers

14.  Slice the Roma tomatoes and add them to the bowl with the other veggies.

Tomatoes too!

15.  Pour the bowl of veggies into the delicious cream sauce.

Veggies and cream sauce

16.  Take some Kalamata olives and use your knife to cut the fleshy parts out from around the big pit in the middle.  Add your slices of Kalamata to the cream sauce, being careful that no olive pits go into the sauce.

Cut around the pit

A tasty pile of olive slices

A tasty pile of veggies in the creamy sauce

17.  Mix the sauce around until it’s well-mixed and all the veggies are coated with the creamy goodness.  Then turn the heat on the stove down to the lowest setting.

18.  Pour the sauce into the pot that you cooked the pasta in (the pasta should not be in the pot).   Do this so that you will have room to stir the pasta into the sauce in a few minutes.

A pot of yummy sauce

19.  Add the pasta and stir it all around to make sure all of the delicious flavors are all over the place.

Yum!

Close-up yum!

20.  Now let the pasta have some time to absorb the creamy sauce.  Keep the pasta on low setting for about 10 minutes, stirring it every 2 minutes or so.  The sauce will thicken and will be creamy and amazing.

21.  Once it’s creamy and amazing, spoon some pasta into your dinner bowl and sprinkle with some Feta cheese.

Creamy pasta in a bowl

Creamy pasta in a bowl topped with Feta cheese

22.  For your lunches for work, spoon the pasta into your reuseable lunch containers, sprinkle each one with the Feta, and let the pasta cool before you put the lid on and store it in the fridge.  Take one in your lunch and remember to bring a fork!

A reusable container of delicious creamy Greek Rigatoni

Here’s what it costs to make A Streak of Greek Rigatoni (about 4 servings):

• Pasta:  $1.25
• Heavy cream:  $2.50
• Feta cheese:  $2.50
• Kalamata olives:  $0.30
• Green pepper:  $0.60
• Roma tomatoes:  $0.60
• White onion:  $0.30
• Oregano:  $0.50
• Liquid Chicken:  $0.15
• White wine:  $0.75
• Chicken:  $3.00
• Butter/margarine: $0.07
• Flour:  $0.04
• Green onions:  $0.30

Total cost to make:  $12.86

   Total cost per serving:  $3.22

That’s a spectacular price for a meal that’s tasty, healthy, easy, creamy quick, and has a little Greek flair!

   There’s a lot more big-batch pasta recipes available for you:

• Fiesty Fiesta Mac n Cheese
• Cheery Chicken Bruschetta Pasta

Saucy Chicken Dinner

You don’t have to be an expert to make yourself a great entree meal.  When you’re single, you tend to go for a quick microwave meal, or a toaster oven meal, or something that’s quick and easy.

But you deserve a full entree every now and then!  And guess what – they’re easy to do!

For this recipe, you just need to be able to use your oven, make minute rice, and use your stovetop.  It’s pretty easy!

Here’s what you need to make it:

• Skinless chicken breast (I used ones with the bone in – boneless chicken is more expensive)
• Your favorite flavor of BBQ sauce
• 1/2 of a white onion
• Some pre-cooked bacon
• A little bit of honey
• A cup of minute rice
• A cup or two of frozen veggies

  Here’s how to make it:

1.  The chicken takes longer than the rest of the meal to cook, so put your chicken in the oven right away.  I always use non-cooking spray, and then sprinkle each breast with some pepper before I put it in the oven.  See my guidelines for how to cook chicken here:  http://wp.me/p4HvaI-76

2.  While the chicken is cooking, I put a small pot of water on the stove and bring it up to a boil.  Eventually I will heat up my frozen veggies in this water.

3.  In another pot, I put in some water and salt and follow the directions on how to cook minute rice from what it says on the box.  Make as much as you want – keep in mind that rice is a great thing to take in your lunch the next day – why not make some for lunch while you’re cooking some for dinner?  It’ll keep your stomach full at work!

4.  Once the oven is pre-heated, pour a bit of your favorite BBQ sauce onto your chicken and smear it around so the breasts are covered.  Then put the chicken in the oven.  Set the timer for 25 minutes.

Chicken all sauced up

5.  After you’ve got the chicken and rice going, put a pan on the stove and put some cooking oil in it (I use canola oil usually).

6.  Cut up your onion to the size you like (I use a big chop), and put it in with the oil so that it heats up and cooks.

Cooking some onions!

7.  Once the onion has cooked for a few minutes, add some pre-cooked bacon.  Chop it up into bite-sized pieces first.

Onions and bacon – yum!

8.  Let the onion and bacon heat up for a bit.

9.  Be sure to check back on your rice, chicken, and veggie stuff.  Follow the minute-rice instructions to make sure the rice is cooked properly.  It’s okay if the rice finishes cooking before everything else – it will stay warm in the pot so long as you keep the lid on.  Same with the veggies.  Once your veggie water is boiling, just add in some frozen veggies and cook until all of the veggies are nice and hot and soft.

Cooking the frozen veggies

10.  Once everything’s under control, take more of your BBQ sauce and pour it in with the onions and bacon.  You want to add enough sauce so you’ll have enough to mix in with your rice, and maybe a little extra to dip your chicken in.

Making it all saucy!

11.  If you want a crazy spin on your BBQ sauce, add a few little squeezes of honey.

Honey!

12.  When the rice is done cooking, add it to your sauce mixture and stir it all up so it’s one delicious item.

Bacon, onions, rice, and delicious sauce… all in one pot!

13.   When your chicken is about 5 minutes away from being done, take it out of the oven and add another layer of sauce on top.  This is to make it nice and saucy and delicious and moist!

Some more sauce added just before it’s done cooking

14.  Once your veggies are thoroughly cooked (if you’re not sure if they’re cooked or not, take one of the biggest pieces of veggie and bite into it – if it’s cooked the way you like it, the smaller pieces will be cooked too), drain it all in a strainer.

Draining the veggies

15.  Return the veggies to their pot and add some butter and pepper – or add whatever it is that you like on your veggies.

Veggies back in the pot with some butter melting in it

16.  Once the chicken is done, get out your dinner plate!   Put the chicken on the plate, add a few scoops of the rice mixture, and then add a scoop of the veggies.  I always save a bit of pre-cooked bacon on the side to put on the top of my rice, just so that it looks even more bacon-tastic.

Yum!!!

Feel free to add other things to this meal that you like – bread & butter, a glass of wine, a nice garden salad – whatever you like!

The point is that you will benefit from keeping easy-to-make foods around.  Chicken breasts are not hard to make.  Once you know how to identify when a chicken breast is done, they’re so easy to work with.  You sprinkle them with some seasoning and the oven does the rest.  Frozen veggies make a great sidedish and all you have to do is boil water first.  Rice (especially minute-rice) is a very cheap and easy thing to make.

Learn what flavors you like and tweak the above recipe to make it the way you want.  If you don’t like BBQ sauce, use something else!  Try soya sauce, or a marinade that you got from the store, or a spicy thai sauce, whatever.

   Here’s what it costs to make (for one serving): 

• Chicken breast:  $2.00
• BBQ sauce:  $1.00
• Onion:  $0.50
• Bacon:  $1.00
• Honey:  $0.20
• Rice:  $0.50
• Frozen veggies:  $0.75

  Total cost to make:   $5.95

What a great price for a full entree meal that only takes about 30 minutes to prepare!  Plus, you can double the recipe and have your lunch for work the next day!

  For more entree-type meal ideas, try one of these:

• Tasty Lasagna Rippers
• Sophisticated Pasta