{Feast} Simple Dinner Recipe – What’s In Your Fridge?

In our neverending effort to be more frugal while still satisfying our inner foodie, I rummaged through our fridge Sunday night to make a quick and easy (and yummy) entree for dinner with only what he had on hand.  Too often, if we haven’t planned our meal, we end up eating out or going to the market and spending money outside of the grocery budget.  This time, I was dead set on making sure we used what he already had and didn’t go to the market for anything.

Here’s what we had in our fridge/cupboard:  fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, gorgonzola cheese, parmesan cheese, whipping cream (or half and half), chicken broth, real butter, arugula (aka Rocket), sweet onion, garlic, nutmeg, black pepper, white pepper, leftover cooked diced chicken and linguini.

I decided to make a sort of alfredo sauce to pour over the noodles and top with diced tomatoes, fresh diced arugula and basil as well as sauteed onion and garlic.

How I made my Gorgonzola Alfredo Linguini Pasta:
(note:  I am not generally a measurer when experimenting – sorry)

I spooned a bunch of butter into a saucepan and turned the heat on low along with the parmesan and gorgonzola cheese and let them all melt together.  Once they were fairly melted, I poured in about 1/4 cup of whipping cream and a few shakes of nutmeg and let that heat for a bit.  I then turned up the heat and poured in about 1/2 cup of chicken broth while whisking vigorously until the sauce came to a boil.  Once it came to a boil, I reduced the heat to simmer to let the sauce thicken and then took it off the heat completely.  I then added fresh ground pepper and white pepper.

I put the noodles into a pot to boil and began dicing the tomatoes, the arugula and onions.  I put the chicken into a pan and sauteed it with the onions and garlic and remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth.  When the noodles were done, I drained them, then poured the sauteed chicken and broth over them and let the broth strain out.

I then mixed the sauce with the noodles and chicken and topped everything with the fresh tomatoes, diced basil and arugula.  While the cheese sauce could be heavy, the fresh vegetables gave it a lovely light feel as well.  Couple this meal with a nutty white chardonnay or a peppery red wine and I think it would be even yummier.