Chipotle Chicken Pasta

Birds of a feather often flock together, and my being a foodie means that I have many friends that are amazing in the kitchen as well. This recipe was submitted on a food forum that I follow, Recipe 101, by a good friend of mine, Randy Dobson. I found the flavor profiles to be something of interest to me, so I want to share it with all of you.

The thing I like most about preparing pasta dishes is the versatility of the noodles. In this dish you could use any kind of noodle that you have in your cabinet and it would come out tasting amazing. Different noodles do hold different benefits, though. For example, using the bow tie pasta in this dish will help to hold more of the cheese and sauce in place so that you get a lot of flavor in each bite. Using large shells in dishes gives the ability to prepare a dish using the stuffing method, and thus changes the presentation. Spaghetti and angel hair noodles are delicate noodles and pair well with lighter sauces. Rigatoni noodles are hearty noodles and balance out  thick and hearty sauces. Options really are endless.

Moving on to sauces... The thing that I love most about this recipe is that it is literally macaroni and cheese! (Anyone who knows me knows that I am a lover of cheese... and now you all know that too!) This recipe has a grown up flavor to it with the added element of the Tobasco Chipotle sauce and the blend of cheeses. Like Randy had mentioned, you can add chicken to this recipe and make it a quick, easy, and delicious meal that will feed your family. Shrimp, scallops, or shredded pork might not be too bad with this either... see? Versatility. Pasta is a great ingredient to experiment with.

One last thing I want to ramble on about before we get to the recipe part of this blog, and that's the cooking methods. I am a big fan of baked pasta dishes because it adds an extra element to the dish by helping all the ingredients marry together more, and since I add extra cheese to the top of my dishes, I can broil it for the last few minutes to get the nice bubbling, browned, cheese crust on the top of it. It's not necessary to bake a dish though. If your pasta is cooked, and you pour some heated sauce on it, it will be awesomeness in a bowl just like that!

Drum roll please! Here is the recipe for Randy's most recent pasta creation. Enjoy!

Chipotle Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

1 16 oz box bow tie pasta, cooked and drained
8 oz colby jack cheese, shredded, divided in half
4 oz Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup half-n-half cream
3 tbsp chili powder, divided
4 tbsp Chipotle Tobasco
1 chicken bouillon cube, crushed
4 tbsp corn starch
4 tbsp cool water
1/2 cup parmesan cheese for topping
Optional: 2 grilled chicken breast, cubed

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350* (Optional. For alternative cooking method.) Bring 6 cups of water and a large pinch of salt to a boil in a large pot on the stove. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

2. Shred the cheese and have the bouillon cube, cream cheese, half and half, 2 tbsp chili powder, and hot sauce pre-measured and ready to add to sauce. Mix corn starch with the cool water also and set aside.

3. In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat on the stove, melt 4 tbsp butter in the pan. Add the slurry of cornstarch and water and cook for 3 minutes. Mixture will be thick and doughy. Slowly stream the half and half into the pan and whisk constantly until mixture is smooth.

4. Bring mixture to a simmer over the medium heat, stirring constantly, and then lower heat to a simmer. Add the cream cheese and whisk until completely smooth before adding the chili powder, hot sauce, and bouillon cube. Mix thoroughly before adding 4 oz of the shredded cheese to the mixture. Let cheese melt completely. Remove from heat. If sauce is too thick, whisk in additional half and half until desired consistency is reached.

5. In a large bowl (or in the pot that the noodles were cooked in), gently fold the sauce into the noodles being careful not to break the noodles. Fold in cubed chicken (optional).

**At this point you can be done with the dish by sprinkling with extra chili powder and parmesan cheese and portioning into bowls. Continue on to step 6 for baking directions.

6. Pour pasta and sauce mixture into a lightly oiled 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining chili powder and parmesan cheese. Top with remaining 4 oz of shredded cheese. Bake in preheated oven, on the middle rack for 15 minutes. Turn oven on to high broil and broil for 2-3 minutes until cheese on the top gets bubbly and browned.

Serve hot. Serves 6.