Delightfully Spicy

There are some things that will always make me smile no matter how bad my day is.

Like when my kids bring home really funny school work.
(Translation: I can drive and talk on the phone.)

Finding money in a coat pocket.

Brownies.

And when Chad reads the mustard bottle.

That’s right. The bottle says “delightfully spicy”. But no one can read the words quite like my boyfriend. With his deep voice and thick drawl the words  sort of spill out slowly “dee-laht-fuh-lee spah-see”. I love it. It makes me giggle every time. I can be mad as ever and if Chad asks for the delightfully spicy mustard it’s all over. I am pretty sure he uses this to his advantage, but I’m sort of short tempered so I guess it’s alright.

Last night I made rigatoni with chicken and peppers. It was delightfully spicy.

I finely chopped one whole onion, a green bell pepper (I usually like to add a red bell pepper to this as well, but dang they’re expensive!), about 8 ounces of mushrooms (Whatever variety you prefer. I used baby bellas because unlike the red bell peppers they were on sale.), and 3 cloves of garlic.

Brown the chicken in olive oil in a large skillet and then remove and set aside. I don’t cook the chicken through just yet, I only sear the outside (it will be added back in and allowed to cook through in a minute).

Add the garlic, onions and green peppers to the hot skillet and saute for a few minutes until the onions look a little bit carmelly in color.

And now you will need more peppers.

Pepperoncinis! Slice them up and add them in– to taste, of course.

Then add your mushrooms and continue cooking this whole mess of vegetables for about a minute or two (your kitchen will smell so dee-laht-fuhl). Add the chicken back in and cook for another minute over medium heat. Now comes the part where I cheat:

I use prepared spaghetti sauce. You can be awesome and make your own sauce if you like, but this is just as cost effective and way faster. I would avoid a cheapie watery sauce though (my standard go-to store bought pasta sauce is Classico Fire-Roasted Tomato and Garlic). Stir everything well and reduce the heat to simmer this sauce while you cook the rigatoni.

Follow package instructions to cook the pasta and drain. Toss the pasta with the sauce and top with grated parmesan cheese.

Rigatoni with Chicken and Peppers

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 green and or red bell pepper, diced

8 ounce package mushrooms, sliced and chopped

about 8 pepperoncinis sliced and stems removed (more or less according to your preference)

1 24 ounce jar of prepared tomato sauce

1 pound of rigatoni

parmesan cheese to taste

To Make

Heat oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken– just browned, not fully cooked. Remove the chicken and set aside. Over medium heat add the onions, bell peppers and garlic to the hot skillet and saute for a few minutes, just until the onions are starting to take on a golden carmel color. Now add the pepperoncinis. Then add the mushrooms and continue to cook for a minute or two. Add the chicken back to the skillet for about a minute and pour in your prepared tomato sauce. Stir, reduce the heat to low and simmer while you prepare the rigatoni according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese to serve.

And THAT is delightfully spicy.