New pasta recipe is lacking pizazz...any ideas or ingredients I should try?

Question

Here's a pasta dish I created...I mixed diced chicken breast, spinach, mozzarella, parmesan cheeses, italian bread crumbs, eggs, thyme, garlic salt and pepper together. I then stuffed the mixture into jumbo pasta shells and baked with an alfredo sauce. It was ok, but I feel something is missing. Its the not the full flavor I was hoping for. What other ingredient(s) should I consider adding to the mixture? I was thinking maybe less spinach, add more different kinds of cheeses, and adding sundried tomatos. What do you think?

Answer 1

I was thinking sundried tomatoes as well. Slice them up a bit and make sure they soften....they'll add a nice kick

Answer 2

here are some tips that will help this out:
1. when you originally cook the chicken breasts, sprinkle some mrs. dash liberally, then pan fry and dice up
2. add some sauteed portabella mushrooms and sundried tomatoes to the sauce
3. add some ricotta cheese to the stuffing. this will add some creaminess
4. use crushed garlic or garlic powder and add the salt separately so that you can control the salt content when you want more garlic flavor
5. you can experiment with substituting some arugula for part of the spinach
6. I would add some mixed italian seasoning to the stuffing and the sauce

Answer 3

I think you're correct with adding some type of tomato product. I would also add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. My opinion is that the alfredo sauce is giving it a flat taste. Your stuffing needs a little pizazz. Try jazzing up the alfredo with up with spices and lots of parmesan or asiago. I'd also incorporate garlic (not salt or powder) in the stuffing and sauce. What's Italian without garlic? Try roasted garlic for a subtle, milder background flavor. Good luck!

Answer 4

I would grill or roast the chicken for flavor
use parmesan&romano instead of just parmesan
I would add ricotta cheese
add roasted garlic
salt,pepper,basil,parsley
egg
chopped spinach
red pepper flakes
if a little dry then add a little cream
sprinkle bread crumbs on top before baking
I would use a garlic cream sauce instead of alfredo

Answer 5

Your combination of ingredients sounds delicioso! I would suggest minced real garlic instead of garlic salt and, possibly, minced shallots and/or chopped mushrooms. Quite possibly, your Alfredo sauce is too bland for all those wonderful ingredients. Try baking the jumbo pasta shells in a Marinara or Traditional (tomato) spaghetti sauce.

Answer 6

The Sun dried tomatoes sound good. I'm also thinking maybe add some diced green peppers. One more thing, when ever I cook "Italian" style, (by this I mean something that makes me think Italian food, even if it is just thrown together) I usually use some combination of Thyme, Basil, Oregano, Marjoram, Parsley, and/or Dill. Not necessarily all, but usually at least three.

Answer 7

What i'd do is take a pie style dish approximately 2 inches severe. Butter the backside and slice garlic bread right into a million inch rounds and canopy backside of casserole with bread. Slice sausages in a million/2 rounds and canopy bread. Saute onions and mushrooms and lay those on dazzling of sausage. Then disguise finished dazzling with the cheese. upload a sprint milk or water to eggs,whip them up and heavily pour over finished casserole, pushing it into dish if mandatory. Bake at 350 until dazzling puffs and is golden. basically approximately like a fritatta. Cindy

Answer 8

I make a quiche with spinach, chicken and bacon - that seems to be a good flavor combination and would add a little saltiness to the dish.

You may also want to try more spices - some fresh basil, perhaps??

Good luck.

Answer 9

Try a vodka cream sauce instead of alfredo, Definately use more spices, basil is always good! Marjoram too. Use fresh garlic instead of garlic salt.

Answer 10

It sounds good the way it is, but to really jazz it up- add some diced italian ham like proscuitto along with the chicken breast. The combination of chicken, ham, and spinach is always good!

Answer 11

you could stir some marinara sauce into your alfredo sauce to give it a little body. it really is quite nice. it actually sounds like a great dish! fresh basil would also punch it up a little... sprinkle your chicken with mrs. dash garlic and herb seasoning before you cook it. it adds great flavor!