Stir Fry Creamy Pasta

The other day, I took a rare opportunity to sit and watch The Food Network and watched "Giada at Home". On a rare occasion, I enjoy watching the Food Network, the only thing I feel is that if they are going to show it, they should come around and share it!

That said, as I was watching Giada, she made a very interesting looking pasta dish, of which I made a variation of tonight. Giada's dish was called "Penne with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese", and I definitely want to give it a try next time.

My variation was quite different, except that I used her method of putting the cheese into a bowl and letting the pasta and pasta water melt it to create a creamy sauce, but it truly was amazing and was a real explosion of flavours in our mouths. As I sit here and type this, my mouth is STILL doing a "happy dance" from the flavours.

This dish is really easy to make and is not time consuming either, and you can eat it at room temperature (for a picnic or luncheon) or hot.

Happy Cooking, Happy Eating!


Ingredients:

1lb packet Rigatoni pasta
1 TBSP Unsalted Butter
1 tsp Olive Oil (or regular vegetable oil)
1/4 lb beef tenderloin, sliced very thinly (alt. use chicken breast sliced thinly)
1/2 large red pepper, diced
1 med green pepper, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 large onion, diced coarsely
6 cloves garlic, cut in half lengthways and then sliced
1/4 tsp chicken powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 pkt Cream Cheese, softened (alt. use mild goats cheese)
1 large pot of boiling water with a handful of salt

1. Add the pasta to the boiling salt water, cook according to package directions (10-12 mins)
2. Melt butter in a pan with the oil, add onion and garlic and fry until golden brown
3. Add beef (or chicken, if using) and cook until it just turns colour, add the peppers and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the frozen corn and fry for another 3 minutes, stiring frequently.
4. Add salt, pepper, and chicken powder, mix well.
5. In a large bowl, add the softened cream cheese (or goat's cheese if you are using).
6. Using a large slotted spoon (or spider spoon), remove the pasta from the boiling water to the bowl with the cream cheese. Don't worry if you get some pasta water into the bowl, it will aid with melting the cheese. Pour the very hot stir fry mix over top. Add 1/4 cup of boiling pasta water.
7. Stir everything together very well using two salad spoons. The heat and the hot pasta water will melt the cheese and create a creamy sauce. Keep mixing together until everything is very well combined.


Eat immediately while hot, or allow to come to room temperature letting all the flavours marry together.

This is a great dish for a pot luck or a picnic, if you keep it in the fridge, make sure you allow the pasta to come to room temperature before serving.