Homemade Wheat Pasta with Alfredo Sauce and Baked Chicken

There weren't a lot of items on my Christmas list this year (outside of clothes and shoes - always), but the KitchenAid Pasta Extruder was one of them.  Gabe wanted to buy it for me, but we were travelling this year, and it wasn't exactly logical to take it on the plane.  Instead, he just told me to buy it once we returned home.  I researched, looking for the best price.  Bed Bath & Beyond was the best if I used a 20% off coupon, but the local store didn't have it so I waited several months for an online 20% off coupon.  Finally, I received one last week -- and FINALLY, I got my late Christmas gift on February 13th!  I couldn't wait to use it!

It may be odd, but we never go out to dinner on Valentine's Day because we don't want to deal with reservations and crowds.  And this year, I was scheduled to have a meeting on the evening of February 14th, which I thought would derail my chances of making pasta on Valentine's Day.  The meeting was cancelled the day of so I began making dinner plans -- centered around homemade pasta!

KitchenAid Pasta Extruder

This pasta extruder from KitchenAid is amazing and so easy to use.  Mix and knead the pasta, put walnut size pieces in the extruder and cut the pasta (using the cutter that is attached to the extruder) -- so simple!

I opted for light wheat pasta (a mixture of whole wheat flour and unbleached flour) with Alfredo sauce and sliced tomatoes.  The fresh pasta was definitely worth the extra effort and this two cheese Alfredo sauce was super creamy and delicious!  For the protein I baked chicken thighs with olive oil and spices.

Light Wheat Pasta from KitchenAid

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sifted whole wheat flour
1 cup sifted bread or unbleached flour
4 large eggs
2 tbs water
1/2 tbs salt

Mix whole wheat flour, unbleached flour, eggs, water and salt (with the KitchenAid mixer:  flat beater on speed 2 for 30 seconds, then dough hook on speed 2 for 2 minutes).  Remove the dough and hand knead for 1 to 2 minutes.

Alfredo Sauce

Click here for the Alfredo Sauce Recipe from Key Ingredient

Baked Chicken

Ingredients:
Skinless Chicken Thighs (I used bone-in)
Olive Oil
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Italian Herb Seasoning
Cayenne Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place chicken in glass baking dish.  Brush with olive oil.  Rub with onion powder, garlic powder, italian herb seasoning and cayenne pepper (one to one for the first 3 spices, cayenne pepper depending on your taste).  Bake the chicken for 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

After plating the pasta, I added parsley, fresh tomato and fresh grated parmesan cheese.

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