Thai Chicken Pasta
This recipe came from the Top Family Recipe Collections of two of my friends. Knowing what talented cooks they both are, I took a leap of faith, despite my reservations on the whole concept. Peanut butter? With my pasta? That seemed rather sacrilegious to this little Italian. Especially when I don't really love peanut butter all that much in the first place.
Consider me converted. Thank you, Wendy and Allison!
Kinley's response: "Wow... Wow.... WOW. This is good. SO good. If you ever go on The Next Food Network Star, you need to make this for sure to win the whole thing!"
I made the recipe exactly as written and it was perfect just the way it was. I wasn't familiar enough with some of the ingredients to mess around anyway. I have never used sesame oil, ginger, rice vinegar, or chili-garlic sauce before.
12 ounces linguine (NOT 16 ounces!)
2-3 breasts of cooked and chopped or shredded chicken. (I used 2 somewhat large ones)
Sauce:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup finely shredded carrots
3 tablespoons minced garlic (yes, you read that right -- 3 tbs. Surprisingly, it's not too much)
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 cup honey
Just a tiny bit less than 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 or 1 and 1/2 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce*
Cilantro and additional green onions to garnish (I did not do this)
Cook pasta in a large pot of water according to package directions, breaking pasta into thirds before boiling. Drain and return to pot. Set aside.
Heat 1 TBS sesame oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add green onions, carrots, garlic and ginger. Saute until vegetables soften, about 4 minutes.
Combine honey, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and chili-garlic sauce in a bowl and and mix well. Add to vegetables. Add Chicken. Simmer sauce 2 minutes. Pour sauce over pasta and toss well.
*Chili-garlic sauce looks like this (but now I have started getting sweet chili sauce instead! No kick, I use a full tsp!):
I have never been successful finding it at Walmart, but you can usually find it in the Asian section of your regular grocery store. I found it at Smith's. The recipe calls for only half a tablespoon, but it packs quite a punch, so don't get crazy with it. It was the perfect amount of spice. (Lately I have been doing 1 tsp, liking it a little more mild).
(If you live close by and want to make the recipe, just come take some of my chili-garlic sauce. I'm never going to use the whole bottle at this rate: 1/2 tbs at a time. It's really good, but I don't think I'll make it 32 times before the bottle goes bad. I'm just sayin')
Consider me converted. Thank you, Wendy and Allison!
Kinley's response: "Wow... Wow.... WOW. This is good. SO good. If you ever go on The Next Food Network Star, you need to make this for sure to win the whole thing!"
I made the recipe exactly as written and it was perfect just the way it was. I wasn't familiar enough with some of the ingredients to mess around anyway. I have never used sesame oil, ginger, rice vinegar, or chili-garlic sauce before.
12 ounces linguine (NOT 16 ounces!)
2-3 breasts of cooked and chopped or shredded chicken. (I used 2 somewhat large ones)
Sauce:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup finely shredded carrots
3 tablespoons minced garlic (yes, you read that right -- 3 tbs. Surprisingly, it's not too much)
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 cup honey
Just a tiny bit less than 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 or 1 and 1/2 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce*
Cilantro and additional green onions to garnish (I did not do this)
Cook pasta in a large pot of water according to package directions, breaking pasta into thirds before boiling. Drain and return to pot. Set aside.
Heat 1 TBS sesame oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add green onions, carrots, garlic and ginger. Saute until vegetables soften, about 4 minutes.
Combine honey, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and chili-garlic sauce in a bowl and and mix well. Add to vegetables. Add Chicken. Simmer sauce 2 minutes. Pour sauce over pasta and toss well.
*Chili-garlic sauce looks like this (but now I have started getting sweet chili sauce instead! No kick, I use a full tsp!):
I have never been successful finding it at Walmart, but you can usually find it in the Asian section of your regular grocery store. I found it at Smith's. The recipe calls for only half a tablespoon, but it packs quite a punch, so don't get crazy with it. It was the perfect amount of spice. (Lately I have been doing 1 tsp, liking it a little more mild).
(If you live close by and want to make the recipe, just come take some of my chili-garlic sauce. I'm never going to use the whole bottle at this rate: 1/2 tbs at a time. It's really good, but I don't think I'll make it 32 times before the bottle goes bad. I'm just sayin')
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