Savory Chicken & Tomato Stew

Sometimes I like to just stand in the doorway to my pantry. I have never had a pantry before and I love it. I never want to have a house without an actual ROOM called a pantry ever again. I can see all my ingredients at once. (Well... the ones that don't have to be refrigerated, anyways.) And it's a great place to stash those big appliances (like my KitchenAid stand mixer) that I can't live without but take up too much counter or cabinet space.

And every once in a while I stand in the doorway to the kitchen an ingredient catches my eye, and I get inspired. I hover over the crock pot, adding a little of this and a little of that. Fast forward to that evening, and we have dinner... ready to go after a long work day.

Yesterday was one of those days.



Savory Chicken & Tomato Stew

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts or 10-12 pieces of chicken tender
2 T butter
1 can tomatoes with basil, oregano & garlic
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 T. pepper
1 t. sea salt
garlic
1 t. oregano
5 shakes Worcestershire sauce
1/2 lb small seashell pasta

Arrange chicken (frozen) in bottom of crock pot. Add butter, tomatoes (do not drain), tomato sauce and water. Sprinkle in pepper, salt, garlic (to taste), oregano and Worchestershire sauce. Stir to combine and ensure that chicken is completely covered by sauce mixture. Set Crock Pot to low and cook 8-10 hours.

When chicken is cooked through shred into chunks. Stir in uncooked pasta. Cover, set Crock Pot to high, and cook for additional 30-45 minutes or until pasta is at desired "done-ness".

Serve with parmesan cheese and crusty bread.

This meal was a big success. Next time I will probably add a little bit of spicy italian sausage as it just needed a little more "something". The kids loved it and everyone was full and happy. And... magically this is one of those pasta dishes that holds up well and is good for lunch on the second day. Yummm... and score!