Thought for the week:
Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.
–Albert Einstein
Just a few more pictures from Hawaii. We kayaked and swam with the spinner dolphins one day. They live in the bay where we stayed.
We had to say a final farewell to our cows on Thursday. We’re just not getting enough rain to support them. Hopefully, we’ll have a better pasture in the spring and can get two more calves. Hey, I just got an update on the heifer and calf – my in-laws bought them and they’re part of their herd now!!
Let’s use the chicken breasts on sale again. The sauce can be made without meat at all. It’s all up to your taste.
This is my brother’s recipe, and a great spaghetti sauce variation. He is so good at pastas, you'll be seeing more of his recipes. If you have leftovers, click here to see a fried pasta recipe.
Ingredients
- 20 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 2/3 cup white wine (or chicken broth)
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Red pepper flakes to taste
- Salt and pepper
- 2 containers cherry or grape tomatoes
- Sun dried tomatoes, chopped (the equivalent of a half of a medium jar)
- 5 cloves of smashed, peeled garlic
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Red pepper flakes to taste
- Salt and pepper
- 2 TBSP chopped fresh oregano (if you can’t find it use 2-3 tsp dried oregano)
- Shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)
- 1/2 lb pasta, cooked al dente (a bit chewy), save a cup of the cooking water
Instructions
- In a slow cooker, place garlic, onion, and celery. Place chicken breasts on top and drizzle with oil.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for about 3 1/2 hours or until chicken is cooked.
- Remove chicken, take meat from bones and skin, and shred meat. Discard bones and skin and mix meat with a little of the juice & veges.
- This can be done a day or more ahead of making the sauce, just heat it up.
- Heat oven to 400°.
- Drizzle bottom of a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with oil.
- Cut cherry tomatoes in half or with a knife tip poke a hole in grape tomatoes, and place in baking dish.
- Add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic.
- Drizzle with oil and toss to coat.
- Sprinkle with red pepper, salt, and pepper.
- Bake 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes, leave uncovered.
- Remove from oven and immediately toss with oregano, hot pasta, and chicken.
- Adjust seasoning and drizzle with more oil if too dry, but also add a little heated broth or pasta cooking water to keep it from getting too heavy. Also, you can add a little more of the chicken cooking juice and veges.
- Sprinkle with cheese.
- Note: other additions include cannellini beans, toasted pine nuts, feta cheese