Chicken & Four Cheese Tortellini Recipe

Chicken & Four Cheese Tortellini

I am what I like to call Step-Italian because my step dad is Italian. I've always grown up with a love of pasta and all things Italian, tortellini is no exception. This is what I had for dinner last night, except I modified the recipe by not adding the mushrooms, because I don't care for them. Enjoy or should I say piacere! :)

Ingredients:
20 ounces dried cheese-filled tortellini
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas, halved crosswise
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons snipped fresh oregano or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk
1 - 8 ounce package cream cheese or light cream cheese (Neufchatel), cubed and softened
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1 small red or green sweet pepper, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Slice/Dice all your vegetables and set aside.
2. Dice up the chicken breasts and set aside.
3. Cook tortellini in boiling salted water according to package directions, adding the carrot during the last 5 minutes of cooking and the sugar snap peas during the last 1 minute of cooking; drain and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, heat margarine or butter in a 12-inch skillet. Add chicken and mushrooms, and cook about 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from skillet.
5. Wisk together chicken broth, oregano, flour, garlic salt, and pepper until smooth. Add to skillet along with milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly; add cream cheese. Cook and stir until cream cheese is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice. Add pasta mixture, chicken mixture, tomatoes, and sweet pepper. Toss to coat. Turn into an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking dish or shallow 3-quart casserole.
6. Bake, covered, in a 350 degrees F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until heated through. Stir mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Posted in: italian,recipe