Last night was one of those nights where I would rather have not eaten if it meant that I didn’t have to cook dinner. But Steve just got home from his trip and was looking for a home cooked meal. As a compromise, we agreed to get a rotisserie chicken from Costco and I would make the sides. Ugh – that means I still had to cook.
What to make? Rice? Blah. Potatoes? Having them for steak dinner on Friday. Pasta? *sigh* There has to be something I can do with plain pasta. After scouring the fridge and pantry, I came up with this tasty goodness and let me tell you, it’s a keeper!
In the fridge I found some pesto that needed to be used, an almost empty jar of roasted red peppers, some minced garlic, a small piece of parmesiano-reggiano cheese, and some ricotta cheese. In the pantry was a package of shell macaroni that the girls had requested the other day in our shopping spree. These few ingredients had to make something at least a little tasty, right?
Here’s how I made it:
Boil shell macaroni. While the macaroni is boiling, cut up roasted peppers and grate cheese. When pasta is done, drain, reserving a few tablespoons of water in the pan. Mix in all ingredients except the parmesan cheese plus the cooking water and add salt and pepper to taste. After serving, sprinkle with cheese.
That’s it! Everyone enjoyed it and because I cooked 8 servings of pasta, we have enough for another dinner, too! Too bad I didn’t take a picture of it because it even looked pretty with the bits of red pepper mixed throughout.
My estimation is that I used 3 teaspoons of garlic, one whole roasted red pepper, ¼ cup of pesto, and ½ cup of low fat ricotta cheese.
Menu:
Rotisserie Chicken
Pesto/Ricotta Pasta
Steamed Green Beans with butter and roasted pine nuts
Woodbridge Chardonnay
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