caprese pasta

you guys, i made this for dinner the other night (as documented on instagram above), and it was so spectacularly easy that i forgot to take pictures of my progress. essentially, i have a before picture, and an after picture, and that’s about it. but that’s okay, because as i said, it’s pretty much the easiest recipe EVER, so there’s not that much to document. i found the recipe here, and adapted it a bit to suit my kitchen needs.

Ingredients

• 1 lb rigatoni pasta
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 TB olive oil
• 2 cups spaghetti sauce (i used trader joe’s)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 ounces mozzarella ( i got mine at trader joe’s)
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 3-5 fresh basil leaves
• 1 pre-cooked chicken breast (i had some breaded chicken left over that i chopped up)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook pasta according to package in a large pot of water with salt. Once pasta is fully cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil.
3. In a large pan warm spaghetti sauce over medium heat. One the sauce is heated, add in heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. Once cheese is melted pour sauce over noodles.
4. Cut grape tomatoes in half and mozzarella in 1/2 inch cubes. Then combine the mozzarella (save about 1/4 cup) and tomatoes with the pasta. Add your chopped up chicken (shrimp would also be yummy!) Pour into a 9×9 baking dish. Top with remaining cheese.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Top with fresh basil. Enjoy!