Tomato Chicken Alfredo.

Good eve, Dear Reader. I did it. I really did it. No, didn't have sex. No, didn't tell R. (the beautiful biker at work) I want to get naked with him. ((although I did find out he's divorced and has 2 kids, ages 15 and 13, and he used to live just south of Reno and he GETS dry weather and weirded out skin... he GETS it)) (((and I really don't know if he's interested or not and I'll probably post on it sometime this week, maybe, 'cause I really do need a keeper... Or a magic 8 ball to tell me what to do))) AAAAUGH. Ok. Sorry. My mind is being quite 'shiny' lately. SO. [no sex..no nekkid. ah. Food.] Yes. Food.

I got experimental in the kitchen. I had an idea. And it was an idea that isn't the bastard child of any recipe book, didn't come from anything that I've had anywhere, didn't SEE it anywhere... but um... Well... You see, Dear Reader, I let myself make Tomato Chicken Alfredo to put over/with pasta. It's a little involved, but overall very quick. I liked it, Bro had 2 huge portions and belched happily the rest of the eve, and it's really damn good if I do say so myself. Shall we go to the kitchen, Dear Reader?

Tomato Chicken Alfredo (to be served over/with pasta)

Marinade:
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, ground fine
2 teaspoons dried oregano, ground fine
1/2 teaspoon marjoram, ground fine
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Sauce:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken, chopped into 1/2-1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium to small onion, chopped fine
8 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
1 Roma tomato, chopped fine (for garnish)

Marinate:
Mix the marinade 1 to 2 hours before you're ready to cook and eat. Toss the chicken in the marinade, refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

Sauce:
About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute 1/4 of the chopped onion for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 the garlic to the pan and saute for 3-4 minutes or until really soft and translucent. Add the chicken with any remaining marinade and saute until cooked through and brown. You may have to do this in 2 batches. Remove to a plate on the side.

Melt the butter in the hot pan, still over medium-high heat. Saute the remaining onion and garlic until soft. Scrape as you cook, Dear Reader. Get that loverly fond. Mix it in.

Stir in the tomato paste. Lower heat to medium.

Stir or whisk in the heavy cream. Bring to a bubble, stir and let it cook down for a couple minutes. It will thicken up as it cooks, and as long as you keep stirring, you should be able to reduce it down by half.



Once it's reduced, stir in parmesan cheese in batches, melting each batch before adding more. The goal here is to keep it bubbling, keep it from sticking and melt in the cheese so you don't have lumps.



Stir in the chicken and any accumulated pan juices, heat back to a bubble.



Toss with pasta or serve over pasta. Garnish with fresh tomato.

TOMATO CHICKEN ALFREDO

NOTES:

NOTES: Chop everything ahead of time. Don't be dismayed at the amount of butter. Yes, it's a smidge fattening. I'm not saying make this every night of the week. We eat like this 1 night a week. Really. And you can use half&half instead of cream. AND you can cut back on the cheese. You can cut the chicken smaller. You can freeze 1/2 of it for future dinners. It made enough for leftovers.

That said: Feel free to use less onion and more garlic. Grind your spices FINE. I used Bro's mortar and pestle. Chop your onion FINE. I used my little electric chopper (it's over in the kitchen stuff at your local Walgreen's. $10-$15 is what I've seen it for. Really. It's a good investment). Add some prosciutto if you like. I actually talked myself out of it at the store. I'd use it as a garnish along with the fresh tomato. On the tomato paste: I used a jarred import I picked up at the Epicurean (they've got a mini-grocery! With IMPORTED STUFF!!! YAY!!!). I wouldn't use the extra 'spensive tubed stuff. You'll notice the marinade smells awfully barbecue. It's not. Really. If you want to add more/different spices, have at it. This really was an experiment. I'm just OCD about recipes. If I make it, I want to write it down so I can re-create it if necessary. Feel free to play.

And sorry about picture size. Blogger's messing up for me again.