Penne Tomato Rustica

I'm not much into meal planning. For two reasons- the first being, I have no idea what specific dishes I'll be in the mood for during the week. If I buy ingredients for certains meals, its most likely that I won't wind up actually making those. The other problem is I often see things I want to make on websites and blogs or in magazines, but then when I'm trying to make a grocery list, none of it strikes my fancy right then. So I'm better off just jotting down the items we're out of like peanut butter and fabric softener and figuring out the rest as I go. I take on the produce and cheese sections like a kid in a candy store. I select whatever speaks to me right then.

Once home, with all of my random ingredients, I began imagining the ways I'll put them together. Combinations will come to my head, and sometimes I need varification that the things will work together. One way I do this is simply by googling these pairings. Another is to use allrecipes' Ingredient Search. With this feature, I might just get the confidence certain ingredients work with one another. Sometimes I may take elements from various recipes to make what I have in mind. And then sometimes, I'll find a specific recipe I want to try out.

Yesterday, I found one of those recipes, in the form of Fettuccini Tomato Rustica. A pasta dish with pesto, feta, and sun dried tomatoes, it sounded heavenly. But with a cup of oil- yes, a cup!- not to mention oil in the pesto and from the oil packed tomatoes, as well as full fat feta and ricotta, it also sounded way too unhealthy and rather oily. And then I saw it had 1000+ calories and 78 grams of fat per serving. Uh, no thanks.

So I moved on, but a while later I couldn't get the concept of the dish out of my head. I knew I could make it much healthier. The first thing I did was tackle making a lightened up pesto. Then I omitted the ridiculous amount of oil, using just enough to saute my vegetables. A little extra of the light pesto with some broth, thinned at the end with pasta water, made a delicous sauce without all of the oil. And using tomatoes not packed in oil (I buy soft, ready to eat ones) and reduced fat ricotta and feta helped even more. I added in mushrooms (a good move) and grilled my chicken instead of pan cooking (personal choice.) The three of us enjoyed it very much, and I felt much better about eating something drastically reduced in fat content. After dinner, we decided this this dish would be elevated to an "amazing" status if we replaced the chicken with sun dried tomato chicken sausage.

Penne Tomato Rustica (adapted from Fettuccini Tomato Rustica II, allrecipes)
makes 3 servings
1/2 (14.5 oz.) box of multi-grain or whole wheat penne
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
4 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 (3 oz.) pkg of ready to eat sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup Light Pesto (recipe follows)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup crumbled reduced fat Feta cheese, plus extra for garnish
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 large breast of chicken (If small, use two, or substitue with chicken sausage)

Cook pasta according to box directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking water.

As pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet. Add garlic, mushrooms and tomatoes, and cook for about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are becoming soft. Reduce heat and add pesto, broth, feta and ricotta. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer, as the pasta finishes cooking. When it is done, add hot pasta and stir to coat with sauce. Thin with 1/4 cup of reserved cooking water. If needed, add the remaining 1/4 cup.

Meanwhile, pound chicken to 1/2 inch thickness and grill until cooked through (We like to use our George Foreman for meals like this.) Slice or dice chicken. Plate pasta and serve chicken over top. Sprinkle with extra feta.

Light Pesto (adapted from Taste of Home)
makes 1/4 cup
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp shredded pamesan
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
8 walnut halves, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chicken (or vegetable) broth
1/2 tsp olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground pepper

In mini processor, add garlic, cheese, walnuts. Cover and process for about 30 seconds. Add basil, and process another 15-20 seconds. Add liquids and process until combined and relatively smooth. Season with salt and pepper.