Red Pepper Alfredo with Pan Seared Chicken

I always sit down to write my blog posts absolutely exhausted, but on the upside i have ALWAYS had a tasty meal worth sharing with everyone who looks at these posts :) Life has been crazy busy as usual. I'm looking forward to summer when I can start my internship, although that will likely mean more of a hectic schedule than I am accustomed to now. Probably won't be posting as many recipes come July and August, but I will still try! Right now I'm on "spring break" which is quite the joke compared to the spring breaks I was used to as a high school or college student. Grad school spring break- especially in an excellerated program- is just a tease for 2 weeks. No Florida sun, no frozen drinks in Cancun, nope just me at home livin' the dream. Ah well...I've been promised by my husband that we'll travel at some point when our schedules permit it. We'll see.

Anyway, more to the point here, TASTY FOOD! Found this recipe on Pinterest of course. I'm not the biggest red pepper fan, but I lovvved the way this looked in the picture. I figured it had to be good. It is a recipe adapted from www.laurenslatest.com (a food blog). I have pinned quite a few of her recipes, but this is the first I've tried...and I will definitely be making it again! I was skeptical about goat cheese...its probably the most expensive thing necessary for this dish...but well worth it I must say. I did a few things differently than the recipe called for, but I was happy with the result overall.

Red pepper(s) in the oven for 30 minutes at 500 degrees...

saute onions and garlic for about ten minutes

roasted peppers combined with melted cheeses, milk, onions and garlic...

Sauce should be transferred to a food processor because I don't have a fancy immersion blender like the recipe calls for...blend for a few seconds or as thin as you'd like your sauce...then transfer back into the pan to keep warm before serving...

Served ours over whole grain thin spaghetti, topped with parsley, and pan seared chicken breasts. YUM! It was really really good. I actually liked not using two peppers...I feel the sauce would have been too strong...this way it was still very creamy with a red pepper flavor.

Ingredients

2 whole red bell peppers (only used one)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (used about a tablespoon or more of garlic powder)
1 cup fat free half & half (used 3/4 cup of 2% milk + 1/4 cup of premade alfredo sauce)
4 oz. garlic & herb goat cheese (used regular goat cheese - still really good)
2/3 cup grated parigiano reggiano cheese (I did not go with the fancy stuff..Kraft works!)
1/2 cup artichoke hearts (optional) (didn't use these..blah)
1/2 lb. linguine, cooked to al dente (whole grain spaghetti instead)
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place red peppers on baking sheet and bake 20-30 minutes until peppers are charred. Remove from oven and cover with foil 10 minutes.
In the mean time, saute onions and garlic in olive oil 7 minutes or until tender. Pour in half & half, goat cheese, salt & pepper. Stir to melt goat cheese into sauce and keep warm over low heat.
Uncover peppers, peel off skin and remove stem and seeds. Chop into large pieces and place into sauce along with parmesan cheese. Stir to melt cheese and remove from heat. Pour sauce into food processor and puree, or use an immersion blender. Place back into hot pan and toss with cooked pasta. Taste and adjust seasonings. Top with more parmesan cheese, pepper, salt and parsley, if desired.