Cavey’s Chicken Ziti

Been so long sice I answered the bell for a new recipe, I’m feeling a lot like Ferris Bueller … “Caveman? Caveman? Caveman?”. But, I am coming out of my self-imposed hiatus with a true winner – my baked chicken ziti. Super easy to make; incredibly delicious; freezable for future meals; and, with Fall setting in, it is a meal that will stick to any Neanderthal’s ribs. What else could you want? For those that replied, “You to make it for me.”, dinner is at 6:30pm. 😉

INGREDIENTS

6 Cups Cavey’s Italian Sauce
1 Pound Ziti
2 Boneless Chicken Breasts
6-7 Slices Provolone Cheese
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1.5 TBS Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1.5 TBS Dried Italian Herbs
1 TBS Minced Garlic
1 TBS Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

RECIPE

Prepare 6 ups worth of Cavey’s Italian Sauce and set aside. Shred mozzarella cheese and set aside.

Cook the Ziti according to directions on package. Be sure to cook it “a la denté” … slightly underdone, as it will continue to cooking when we get to the baking stage. Drain well.
NOTE: If you can’t find Ziti, Penné, Rigatoni, or other short pasta tubes will work just fine.

Return Ziti to pot, add 1/4 to 1/2 of a cup of the Italian sauce, and gently stir in evenly. Set aside.

Cut chicken into large bite-sized pieces. In a large skillet, warm olive oil, quickly sauté garlic, add chicken, Italian herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until almost done.
NOTE: Don’t overcook or it will get dry during baking.

Add 1/4 to 1/2 of a cup of the Italian sauce and continue to sauté for another minute. Then, remove from heat and set aside.
HINT: Once you have your sauce simmering, most of the remaining steps above can be done simultaneously. It’s a real time saver!

Take a large, deep baking dish butter it well. Place a layer of half the pasta evenly into the dish. Evenly distribute half the cooked chicken and cover with half the remaining sauce. Completely cover with slices of Provolone cheese.

Now, evenly distribute the remainder of the pasta, chicken and sauce (in that order). Cover with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Preheat oven to 350°, cover baking dish, and place into oven for 20 minutes. Then, uncover baking dish and place back into the oven for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven when cheese begins to bubble and the edges are golden brown. Let stand for 5-10 minutes (Yes, I realize it’s difficult to not just dig in. But, you need to let it set up).

Spoon into plates and serve with garlic bread and a salad. YUMMMMMMMMM!

HINT: For a vegetarian version, just remove the chicken from the equation, or add Gardein meatless chicken strips, instead.
HINT #2: This is a great dish to make ahead of time. You can either refrigerate it unbaked for up to 3 days, or freeze unbaked for up to 3 months. Just be sure to cover it well.

Prep Time = 45 minutes
Cooking Time = 30 minutes
Serves 6-8

©2017 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This recipe originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at http://cavemancooking.net authored by Caveman. This recipe may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.

Garlic Shrimp in Creamy Tomato Sauce

This a warm, savory dish that the whole family will devour!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 Pound Raw Shrimp
1 15 oz. Can Tomato Sauce
3 Tbsp. Sour Cream
4 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp. Fresh Chopped Basil
1 Large Tomato
1/2 tsp Red Crushed Pepper
Salt & Pepper to tatse

RECIPE

Rinse and drain shrimp. Remove tails, shells, and veins. Re-rinse and drain. Cover and refrigerate until ready for cooking.

Mince garlic, chop tomatoes and basil. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil. When ready add 1 tablespoon each of garlic and basil. Saute for about one minute.

Reduce flame and add tomato sauce.

When warmed, whisk in sour cream. Add red crushed pepper. Salt & pepper to taste. Allow to simmer on very low flame.
HINT: I like to substitute garlic salt for the plain variety.

While sauce continues to warm, add remaining oil to a large skillet and saute remaining garlic about one minute. Add shrimp to pan and saute until just cooked.

Reduce flame to very low and stir in sauce. Reduce slightly.

Just before serving, gently fold tomatoes into sauce. Just long enough to warm the tomatoes.

Serve over your favorite pasta. Pictured here over Florentyna’s Black Linguini along with a side of Sauteed Yellow Squash.

I was going to show you a couple of pictures of the Cavekids enjoying this dish. But, nothing attests to their overwhelming approval of this recipe better than this ;):

Prep Time = 15 minutes
Cook Time = 15 minutes
Serves 4-6

©2010 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This recipe originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at http://cavemancooking.net authored by Caveman. This recipe may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.

Freezer Food Fest #1

It’s official! We’re moving!! So, I have been given a “request” by the Cavewoman to empty the freezer before we move in 45 days. The pressure is on!
I’ll be chronicling each meal pulled from it’s frozen vault and thrust into the meal-time limelight. We’ll see if we can actually empty the freezer before zero hour! At the very least, we’ll have some fun and flavor along the way.
For the first meal, I yanked a package of Florentyna’s Fall Harvest Squash Round Ravioli out of it’s chilled lair. If you haven’t sampled Florentyna’s assortment of fresh-frozen pasta creations, I highly recommend you give them a try. When you don’t have the time or inclination to make your own pasta, their fresh varieties are the perfect substitute.
In the interest of full disclosure, you may notice that I am actually holding a package of their Portabella Mushroom Round Ravioli in the picture. The shot of the Squash Ravioli just didn’t come out. So, you are likely to see this same shot again when we attempt the shrooms.
Still the question remained, “What to do for a sauce?”. My Italian Sauce just seemed too heavy to go with the delicate flavors of the Kobocha and Butternut squashes. My tiny Cave-brain started spinning … butter, garlic, basil, pine nuts in some sort of creamy sauce sounded perfect.
So, I went at it and ended up with a new recipe: Creamy Pine Nut Pasta Sauce.
The reviews were incredible! The Cavewoman said “I don’t want to have to swallow it … it’s that good! The best I’ve ever had!!”. The Caveboy gave it “1000 thumbs-up!”. While the Cavegirl mumbled, with her mouth full of ravioli, something to the effect of “Me too!!!”.
So, the first installment of the Freezer Food Fest was a success. I’m just hoping I haven’t set the bar too high for the rest of this Herculean undertaking!

©2009 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at http://cavemancooking.net authored by Caveman. This may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.

Creamy Pine Nut Pasta Sauce

Put this one together on the fly. Turned out to be a real crowd pleaser!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 Stick of Butter
3 Tbsp Artichoke Infused Oil (you can use the oil-based liquid from marinated artichoke hearts)
3 Large Garlic Cloves
2-3 Tbsp Pine Nuts
2 Tbsp Sour Cream
2 Tbsp White Wine
1 tsp Dried Basil

RECIPE

Mince garlic. Set aside.
BTW, is it just me or is there nothing better than the smell of fresh chopped garlic?

In a medium sauce pan melt butter, add oil. Saute garlic and basil.
Then, whisk in sour cream. Add wine and reduce slightly until creamy texture desired is reached. Don’t overdo it! (I sound like my Mother, don’t I?) Add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in pine nuts until warmed – about a minute.

Serve over ravioli or fettucini noodles. Pictured here with Florentyna’s Fall Harvest Squash Round Ravioli.

Prep Time = 5 minutes
Cook Time = 10 minutes
Serves 3-4

©2009 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This recipe originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at http://cavemancooking.net authored by Caveman. This recipe may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.

King Crab Risotto

Easy to make, and great to the taste. As you will see, even the kids will love this, and it can easily be altered to a veggie-friendly version, too!

INGREDIENTS

2 Large King Crab Legs – Cooked
3 Cups Vegetable Broth
1 Cup Arborio Rice (Risotto)
1 Cup Artichoke Hearts
3 Cloves Garlic
2 Green Onions
1/3 Cup Fresh Grated Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan Cheese)
1/4 Cup Pine Nuts
2.5 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

RECIPE

Using kitchen shears or a nut cracker, shell crab meat, break into large bite-sized chunks, cover and place in refrigerator.

Finely chop green onion and mince garlic. Set aside.

In large sauce pan heat butter and oil. Saute garlic until translucent. Add rice and saute another 2-3 minutes.
HINT #1: For even more artichoke flavor, use the marinating oil from the artichoke hearts instead of the Olive Oil.

Very slowly add 1 cup of the broth to the rice, stirring almost constantly and making sure that liquid is absorbed by rice before adding more broth. Continue adding broth 1 cup at a time in this fashion.
HINT #2: Yes, this is a bit more labor intensive than most of my recipes. So, turn on some tunes, or a great game on the tube, and mouth-breath your way through the next 20-25 minutes. 😉

Once liquid is mostly absorbed by rice, slowly stir in parmesan cheese. Reduce flame to low.

Now, add green onions and pine nuts. Stir in well.

Add artichoke hearts and very gently fold into Risotto mixture.

If it’s an all-carnivore crowd, skip to the next step. But, if you have any vegetarians in the group, go ahead and remove suitable amount to serve them.

Add crab meat and very gently fold into Risotto mixture. Try to keep the crab from breaking up too much.

Cover sauce pan for about one minute until crab warms. Serve with salad and warm bread.

This dish goes over big-time with folks of all ages. As you can see, it met with rave reviews from the Cavegirl. She couldn’t get it into her mouth fast enough! 😉

Prep Time = 12 minutes
Cook Time = 25-30 minutes
Serves 4

©2009 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This recipe originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at https://cavemancooking.wordpress.com authored by Caveman. This recipe may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.

Easy Chicken Parm

A quick and easy version of the Italian classic … Chicken Parmesan

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs. Chicken Breasts, boned & skinned, 1/2 inch thick
2 Cups of Cave’s Italian Sauce, warmed
8 oz. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2/3 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1/3 Cup Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, finely grated
1/2 Cup Milk

RECIPE

Preheat oven to 415°. If Chicken breasts are too thick, butterfly cut them to the proper size. You will probably end up with about six pieces of Chicken when properly sized.

Put bread crumbs and Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese on a plate and combine well.

Put milk onto similar sized plate (make sure the plates have raised edges to prevent spillage) and place next to bread crumb/cheese mixture. Take each breast and first fully coat in milk.

Then, take the breast and fully coat with bread crumb/cheese mixture.

Place evenly on cookie sheet or baking pan lightly coated with no-stick cooking spray and place into oven.

Cook for 20-25 minutes until edges turn golden brown and then carefully flip each breast. Return to oven for another 5 minutes. Then evenly spread approximately 1/3 cup of heated Italian Sauce on each breast.

And, cover each breast with Mozzarella Cheese.

Again, return to oven for another 2-3 minutes until cheese is fully melted. Serve with a side of pasta, salad and warm bread.

Prep Time = 5 minutes
Cook Time = 30 minutes
Serves 4-6

©2009 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This recipe originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at https://cavemancooking.wordpress.com authored by Caveman. This recipe may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.

Italian Sauce

Traditionally known as “gravy”. Commonly known as “pasta sauce”. But, I call it “Italian Sauce” because it can be used on so much more than pasta!

INGREDIENTS

29 oz. Can of Tomato Sauce (preferably Hunts or Contadina)
6 oz. Can of Tomato Paste (preferably Hunts or Contadina)
2 Roma Tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 Medium Sweet Onion, finely chopped
3-4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1.5 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Red Wine
2 Tbsp. World Spice Merchants “Italian Herbs”
2 tsp. Red Crushed Chili Pepper
1 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper

RECIPE

Chop onion and tomatoes, and mince garlic. Set aside.

In a medium/large sauce pan heat oil. Then add garlic, onions and ONE tablespoon of the Italian Herbs, saute until they start to become translucent.

Add tomatoes and continue to saute until they become soft.

Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, wine, chili pepper, remaining Italian Herbs, garlic salt and pepper and stir well.
HINT #1: In a pinch, you can substitute a 30+ oz. bottle of basic pasta sauce instead of the tomato sauce and paste. If you do, omit the salt, pepper and 1/2 a teaspoon of the herbs.

Cover and simmer for at least two hours (the longer the better) over the smallest flame possible. Stir often.

Serve over your favorite pasta, use in your favorite lasagna or chicken parmesan recipe, or makes a great sauce for homemade pizza.
HINT #2: While this version is veggie-friendly, the carnivore crowd will be pleased to know that browning a pound of ground beef in the oil, onions, garlic and herbs (just before adding the tomatoes) turns this into a great meat sauce. You can also add some grilled Italian sausage or homemade meatballs to this sauce 1/2 hour before serving over pasta for a great main course.

Prep Time = 12 minutes
Cook Time = 2.25 hours
Serves 6-8

©2009 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This recipe originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at https://cavemancooking.wordpress.com authored by Caveman. This recipe may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.

Cavinaigrette

A great, light dressing with an Italian flair. Makes a good marinade, too.

INGREDIENTS

1.5 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar (preferably aged)
1/2 Tbsp. Chopped Garlic
1 tsp. Red Wine (or more to taste)
1 tsp. World Spice Merchants “Italian Herbs” (or any dried Italian herb blend)
1 tsp. Teriyaki Sauce
1 tsp. Molassas
1/2 tsp. Sugar (or more to taste)

RECIPE

Mix all ingredients well in a small bowl. Toss into your favorite salad, drizzle on a sub sandwich, or marinate some chicken or fish in it before grilling.

HINT: Make this at least 20 minutes before use so that the herbs get fully rehydrated.

Prep Time = 5 minutes
Cook Time = n/a
Serves 4-6

©2009 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This recipe originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at https://cavemancooking.wordpress.com authored by Caveman. This recipe may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.