Smoky Cheddar Pasta to Keep You on the Road

I tried a new recipe last night for dinner and I thought it was ok; I'd cut back on the smoky cheddar cheese next time. My wife seemed to like it, which surprised me a little bit because I thought it was a little too smoky. But since I was doing the chefin' she usually doesn't complain too much. But, I will give her credit, she was right there with me, helping me keep the kitchen tidy, and did a great job helping me with the clean up. It was a good partnership, as it has been now for almost 30 years. My how the years have gone by, so fast it seems. It seems like just a few years ago I would have her over to my apartment and make some exotic beef burgundy stew, or my old stand by, then and now, spaghetti. But I digress…I guess that goes with old age.

Today is a running day, so last night I wanted to fix something with pasta. I'm a big fan of the Barilla Plus Penne Multigrain Pasta. A 100 g (about 1 cup uncooked) has 17g of protein, 360 g of ALA Omega-3, and 7g of fiber. That's 19% of your DV of protein, and a whopping 28% of your DV of ALA Omega-3 and fiber. It does this by fortifying the wheat with lentils, chickpeas, flax, barley, spelt, and oats. It's super pasta!

So, here's what we did:

Pre-heat oven to 350

1/2 Box of Barilla Plus Multigrain Penne Pasta - cook according to directions
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts -pan cooked in butter, with salt and pepper to taste
-cut up into bite sized shards.

Mix together in a blender/ food processor:

1 cup milk
1 cup smoky sharp cheddar -shredded
2/3 cup gruyere cheese -shredded
1/2 cup cream cheese -crumbled
1 large egg
1 tbs. minced onion
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbs. dry BBQ seasoning (Being from Memphis, I like the Rendezvous dry rub seasoning)

Put cooked pasta, and cut up chicken into a cooking dish. Spoon over and mix thoroughly the cheese sauce mixture with the chicken and pasta. Pop in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes.

For a less smoky version, cut back on the smoky cheddar and add more gruyere. Also, seems like you could use crumbled cooked bacon instead of the chicken and you've got a nice brunch item. Well, it's time to head out for a run. Hope the penne pasta has me covered for the last mile today.