whip it up: roasted poblano and chicken penne

July 17th, 2008 @ 11:22 pm | food | Post a Comment

When I left my job, they threw me a big party and gave me a custom cookbook full of everyone’s favorite recipes. It’s my favorite kind of gift: thoughtful and useful! I made my first recipe from it last week:

Roasted Poblano and Chicken Penne (recipe from Cooking for Love blog)

This recipe is great if you like cheese, peppers, and pasta. And who doesn’t like those things? If the spice thing scares you, just use fewer or milder peppers.

The basics of the recipe are this:

  • Broil the peppers until they get black and charred. Let them cool and peel the really black stuff off.
  • Sauté mushrooms, garlic, and onions. Add one or a portion of a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.
  • Add flour and spices and cook for a few more minutes. Whisk in broth and water and thicken.
  • Add chopped peppers and rotisserie chicken chunks.
  • Add cream cheese (we used FF) and Mexican cheese to make it all creamy and cheesy.
  • Gently fold in cooked penne pasta, add salt and pepper and eat up!

Was the recipe easy to follow? As long as you don’t get too hung up on the pepper-roasting step (and you really shouldn’t; no need for perfection here), the rest is easy. You just saute up a bunch of yummy things in a big pot in successive order. The use of rotisserie chicken is the key here: no raw meat in the kitchen to clean up – blech!

Did the dish taste good? Yes, but it was spicy! If you don’t like spicy, just use a wee bit of chipotle/adobo sauce and cayenne. Husband gave it his approval. Also, we used FF cream cheese even though I am morally against FF cheese (another rant for another time) and I couldn’t even tell. The dish is deceptively healthy for how rich and flavorful it is!

Would you make it again? Yes, I think so. I might even add in different veggies (corn, zucchini).

Ingredients below the jump…Happy Weekend to All! :)

3 handfuls Dry Penne Pasta (okay, we used a whole box. We wanted leftovers)
1 cup chopped rotisserie chicken
1 roasted poblano peppers
1/2 roasted red pepper
1/4 of a yellow onion sliced
1 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms (I used cheapy ‘shrooms)
1 large garlic clove
1t oil
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1T flour
1t cayenne
1/4 t cumin
2 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup broth
1/2 cup water
shredded Mexican cheese

comments

  1. YUM! Spicy and cheesy is pretty much the best combination ever, no? Unfortunately, most peppers tend to give me terrible heart burn! This is very sad and disappointing for me.

    written by Laurel

    July 18th, 2008 @ 8:32 am

  2. It’s only 8:30 am here and I’m craving some spicy cheesy pasta.

    written by Marriage-101

    July 18th, 2008 @ 9:36 am

  3. That looks yummy!

    Aren’t poblanos still on the no-no list from the FDA?!

    written by Laurie

    July 18th, 2008 @ 9:41 am

  4. Nice! I saw the peppers on Flickr, and I knew something was a-brewin’. That cookbook is a great idea! It would be a nice way to do it for a wedding shower, instead of filling out those tiny cards.

    written by RA

    July 18th, 2008 @ 9:46 am

  5. that sounds really yummy! my husband loves spicy food, I think I will try making it this week :)

    written by Jackie

    July 18th, 2008 @ 1:17 pm

  6. thanks for sharing, that looks fab! I’m hearing a lot about poblanos lately – i wonder if they’re sort of a trendy ingredient?

    written by Jaclyn

    July 18th, 2008 @ 1:22 pm

  7. Oh my lord I’m hungry now! Guess what’s for dinner!

    written by Kim

    July 18th, 2008 @ 2:22 pm

  8. This is a recommended dish when you have guests who like-a the spicy (hint, hint)

    written by Alexa

    July 18th, 2008 @ 3:06 pm

  9. ooh when I saw this on your flickr the other day, I was hoping you’d post the recipe! YUM! Totally printing it out right now. We love pasta!

    written by Jen

    July 18th, 2008 @ 3:34 pm

  10. Looks yummy!

    written by Liz

    July 18th, 2008 @ 10:18 pm

  11. Omigosh, Janet … are you a gourmet cook, or what? Those pictures are fabulous! And making me hungry.

    written by Marianne

    July 19th, 2008 @ 10:17 am

  12. Drooling . . . drooling . . .

    written by kris

    July 19th, 2008 @ 7:33 pm

  13. Oh my, that looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it. I love that you use rotisserie chicken. I also hate touching raw meat and use them whenever I can.

    written by Celia

    July 21st, 2008 @ 5:14 pm

  14. OMG that looks soooooo good!!!! Also, on a random note, I ate a tomato tonight. Should I be worried?

    written by Lindsey

    July 22nd, 2008 @ 7:21 pm

  15. Mmm…this looks SO good. I think I might try making it this weekend! :)

    Is it WW friendly?

    written by Jenni

    July 23rd, 2008 @ 2:33 pm