Chicken Marinara Pasta – And the Winner Is

Do you want to win an Oscar for your main course? Then answer “yes” to these three questions:

Is it sweet, savoury, salty, spicy, fragrant and somewhat spicy? Does it have just the right chewy, creamy texture? Is it a gorgeous shade of orangey-red with flecks of green?

Fill a pot with water and settle down for a wonderful night of Oscartainment with this winning recipe for Chicken Marinara Pasta.

Chicken Marinara Pasta 

• 1 lb Casarecci pasta, cooked, strained
• 4 – 5 Italian chicken sausages, snipped with scissors into bite-sized pieces
• 4 c marinara sauce, (Use a splash of wine or water to empty out jars.)
• 1 t dried basil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 c chopped parsley
• 1 c grated feta cheese, or more to taste
• chili pepper flakes to garnish

Saute the sausage in a large pot over medium-low for 20 minutes until browned. Add marinara sauce, a little salt and pepper and cook on medium-low for 20 minutes. Combine sauce with cooked pasta and garnish with feta, parsley and chili pepper flakes. Serve with roasted zucchini and a green salad. Serves 8.

Chicken Marinara Pasta Print Ready Recipe

Final notes:

• Here’s the complete list of Oscar nominees.
• What do you say: Oscars so white or Oscars so dumb?  
• For an extra special treat buy Pastures of Eden feta, imported from Israel. My good friend Mindy told me it’s the best, and I agree. Creamy, Balkan style 100% sheep’s milk grated feta transforms your marinara into a rosé.
• I’m no movie maven, so I won’t bore you with my Oscar picks – The Big Short, but there were quite a few excellent contenders this year –The Danish Girl, and Chris Rock will rock the #OscarsSoWhite very real and valid concern.
• The stainless steel Microplane rotary grater – jittery review perk – is as efficient as it is lovely. It made a wonderful pile of soft snowy white grated feta with practically no effort – award worthy!