Cheddar Chicken Pasta

This cheesy chicken pasta dish comes together quickly and is exploding with flavors of chicken, cheddar cheese, and mustard.  It's a delicious dinner dish!

I love finding new blogs.  My blog list is constantly growing and I enjoy reading other peoples' posts.  The Secret Recipe Club is one of my favorite ways to discover new blogs.  This month I was assigned to Constance's blog, The Foodie Army Wife.  Constance is relatively new the the Secret Recipe Club, and I am thrilled to have been assigned to her blog this month.  I love Constance's Food-losphy which basically says that she cooks real food for her family who really loves family meal time.  She sounds a lot like me!  Besides the Army wife thing...

Anyway, I really enjoyed browsing through The Foodie Army Wife.  I finally narrowed my list of recipes to make down to 13.  Most of the recipes that enticed me were baked goods, like this Cinnamon Swirl Bread and these Nutella Swirl Muffins.  But I decided that I really wanted to make a main dish because our dinners have been seriously lacking lately.  These Cheddar Chicken Pasta fit the bill and so I decided to give it a whirl.

This meal came together quite quickly.  I had some chicken that was already cooked and cubed, so that helped speed things up.  While the pasta was cooking, I was able to make the sauce and then combine everything together.  I try not to make complicated meals on days that I work because that would cause us to eat too late at night.  I made this dish on my day off, but I certainly think I would have the time to make it after work too.

I really liked the flavor that the ground mustard and dijon mustard added to this pasta.  I'm not a fan of mustard typically, but I do enjoy its flavor in certain dishes.  The original recipe called for smoked cheddar cheese, but I only had mild cheddar in the house, so I used what I had.  Since this recipe uses an entire pound of pasta, you end up with quite a bit of food!  I chose to divide the leftovers into containers and froze them for a future dinner and lunch.  We enjoyed this pasta and I will certainly make it again!

Cheddar Chicken Pasta

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 pound mini penne pasta
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 Tablespoon thyme
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon oregano

1.  Cook pasta according to the directions on the box.  Drain and set aside.

2.  Combine ground mustard and thyme in a medium bowl.  (You'll add the chicken to it later, so make sure it's big enough.)

3.  Cut the chicken breasts into bite sized pieces.

4.  Pour olive oil into a skillet and cook the chicken over medium high heat until cooked through.

5.  Remove the chicken from skillet and toss it with the mustard and thyme.

6.  Add diced onion and garlic to the skillet.  Cook until they are tender.

7.  Add the chicken broth to the skillet and use it to deglaze the pan.

8.  Add the butter to the skillet.

9.  Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute.

10.  Whisk in the milk and dijon mustard and cook, stirring often, until the mixture begins to bubble and thickens.

11.  When the sauce has thickened, whisk in the shredded cheese and stir until it's melted.

12.  Stir in the oregano, chicken, and pasta.  Serve hot.

Source:  The Foodie Army Wife

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