20 Delicious Side Dishes to Pair With a Pork Chop Dinner
My Grandma's 4-Ingredient Dinner Is Pure Comfort Food
Mark Beahm / Simply Recipes
Growing up, Sundays were for family. Over the course of the day, my grandma's house would fill up quickly with my immediate family and, at times, an army of small dogs. Between the gossip, football, and Lifetime movies, there were many mouths to be fed.
While my grandmother would never consider herself a cook, she does have a reserve of recipes for just such occasions. Her favorites? The meals that she claims have "everything you need on your plate" in one concoction. This chicken alfredo casserole is one of her classic go-tos.
The brilliance here really does lie in the dish's simplicity. With just four ingredients, you have a dinner that can feed a family for several days. Penne pasta provides the carbs, rotisserie chicken brings the protein, broccoli gives it a green veggie pop, and a good alfredo sauce ups your flavor.
According to my grandma, one solid scoop of this casserole and you have a complete meal.
Tips for Making Grandma Patty's 4-Ingredient Chicken Alfredo Pasta BakeThe big flavor bomb for this dish comes from jarred alfredo sauce, so go with a trusted brand. I prefer Rao's Four Cheese Alfredo Sauce to amp up the cheesy profile without having to add another ingredient to my shopping list.
Any shorter pasta shape like fusilli or farfalle can easily replace the penne in this recipe.
Not a broccoli fan? Try using Brussels sprouts, peas, or cauliflower instead. As long as your veggie of choice can be cooked in 7 minutes of boiling, it will work here.
Mark Beahm / Simply Recipes
How To Make Grandma Patty's 4-Ingredient Chicken Alfredo Pasta BakeTo make 8 servings (one 9x13-inch casserole), you'll need:
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 pound penne pasta
1 pound broccoli florets
1 (4 to 5-pound) rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded
1 (15-ounce) jar alfredo sauce, such as Michael's of Brooklyn, Carbone, or Rao's
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Season with the salt, then add in the penne. Give the pasta a good stir to ensure it isn't sticking together. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the broccoli and stir again. Cook until the penne is very al dente and the broccoli is tender, about 4 minutes more. Reserve about 1 cup of the starchy cooking water before draining the pasta and broccoli in a colander in the sink.
Pour the cooked penne and broccoli back into the large pot. Add the shredded chicken, alfredo sauce, and reserved pasta water and mix thoroughly. Pour the contents into a 9x13-inch casserole dish or baking pan and smooth into an even layer with a spoon or spatula.
Transfer the casserole to the oven and bake until the top layer has started to brown, about 20 minutes. Let the casserole cool at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
To store leftovers, wait until the casserole has cooled significantly, at least 1 hour, before covering the dish and moving it back to the fridge for up to 4 days. Or, you can store individual portions in airtight containers. To reheat, transfer to a serving bowl and pop it into the microwave.
Mark Beahm / Simply Recipes
Read the original article on SIMPLYRECIPES
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Meals Sold At Kroger And Walmart Recalled After Illnesses, Deaths From Listeria
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Ready-to-eat chicken fettuccine Alfredo meals sold at Walmart and Kroger have been recalled after a listeria outbreak that has led to 17 illnesses, including three deaths and one fetal loss.
US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service is investigating the outbreak, which has sickened people in 13 states. The outbreak strain had been identified in ill people from August 2024 through May 2025, and FSIS said the same strain was isolated from routine testing in a FreshRealm establishment in March. FSIS is still investigating whether a specific ingredient in the chicken fettuccine Alfredo is the source of the outbreak.
FreshRealm said the products were sold nationwide at Walmart under the Marketside brand and at Kroger under the Home Chef brand.
The affected products are:
They came from Texas-based FreshRealm and have establishment numbers Est. P-50784, Est. P-47770 or Est. P-47718 inside the USDA mark of inspection. The manufacturer says the voluntary recall does not apply to other FreshRealm products.
FSIS says it's concerned that the recalled products may be in consumers' refrigerators or freezers. They should not be consumed, and customers should throw the products away or return them to the place of purchase.
Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. These symptoms can sometimes be preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn. It may also cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in older adults and people with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics.
FSIS urges people in higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months after eating listeria-contaminated food to seek medical care and tell their health care provider.
FSIS also emphasizes that premade meals should be consumed only when cooked to a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The only way to confirm that premade meals are cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria, including listeria, is to use a food thermometer that measures internal temperature.
The Creamiest, Most Decadent Fettuccine Alfredo Is Only 15 Short ...
An on-the-nose example of the sort of indulgence that typified the Italian-American palate, fettuccine Alfredo is a heavy, filling, laden dish that may check more "comfort food" boxes than any other.
Growing up, my brother was a fervent proponent of fettuccine Alfredo. No matter the restaurant we visited, he'd order it off the menu. There was no food — aside from maybe our dad's renowned tuna — that satisfied him as much, and he could eat it at a greasy spoon, a hole in the wall or fancy-schmancy restaurant. His love affair with fettuccine Alfredo was soon eclipsed by another Italian American stalwart (that of penne alla vodka, of course), but for a time there, fettuccine Alfredo and my brother were synonymous.
While I forever and always adore tomatoes and would typically order a requisite, tomato-laced Italian dish, I could certainly understand what my brother enjoyed so much about the dish. Often monochrome, except for the little bit of chopped parsley on top, fettuccine Alfredo is soft-on-soft and rather heavy. Let's be frank: No one planning on "eating clean" would ever conceive of ordering fettuccine Alfredo. But whatever, their loss!
At its core, fettuccine Alfredo stems from an Italian dish that espoused the ethos of the Italian food culture of the time: celebrating simplicity, purity and fresh ingredients. Originally made with nothing but unsalted butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano and fettuccine, fettuccine Alfredo boomed in popularity back in the '70s or '80s.
Soon, the "Alfredo sauce" was sold as a jarred monstrosity of fillers, preservatives, thickeners, additives and who knows what else. I'd venture to say, though, that 2022 is the perfect time to bring back the original flair of fettuccine all'Alfredo, harnessing the best of Italian ingredients and using a toothsome, substantial noodle to tie it all together.
Origins
As the story goes, Alfredo Di Lelio, who ran the eponymous restaurant Alfredo on the famed gourmet street of Via Della Scrofa in Rome in the early 1900s, was looking to cook something tepid and warming for his pregnant wife, who was experiencing profound nausea.
He served her pasta in bianco — plain or white pasta — in efforts to quell her upset stomach. She became especially fond of this, and soon enough, he added the dish to the restaurant's menu. The rest is history. In Italy, the dish is bare bones, essentially buttered pasta.
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In the U.S., however, its popularity exploded, with various restaurants, chefs and companies creating heavier and heavier iterations of the once-simple sauce.
John Marini writes in Forbes that the original Alfredo was an exercise in luxury: "[T]he fettuccine was made with an enormous quantity of eggs and three kinds of flour; the butter was a triple cream — the richest available — and he Parmesan-Reggiano was cut from the core of the wheel."
In the parlance of John Hammond from "Jurassic Park," Alfredo "spared no expense" in ensuring that his pasta would help mitigate his wife's ailments, hoping that the indulgent, decadent dish would assuage her ills. And did it ever.
A note on fettuccine
Also, it must be said that fettuccine is a stellar option of its own volition. If you're opposed to the rich, laden sentiment associated with Alfredo and negatively let it impact your opinion of fettuccine, stop that right away.
It's a wonderful, toothsome noodle with more body and "oomph" than spaghetti that is less laborious to eat than the likes of tagliatelle or pappardelle. It's also a perfect choice for a rich, creamy sauce, whereas a capellini would fit better with a lighter sauce. Pappardelle is amazing for a heavy, fatty Bolognese.
Grocery shopping
I'd never presume to tell you what you must or mustn't buy or order. "It's your kitchen" is my forever ethos, and similarly, it's your money, too!
I do want to note, though, that some Italian cheeses may clump up when you add them to the butter and cream. This is immensely frustrating and can totally throw off your entire experience. If you're able, opt for the best of the best and splurge on some Parmigiano-Reggiano. It blends and emulsifies perfectly — and its flavor is insurmountable. Of course, other cheeses are usable, but they may clump up, or the result may not be as silky or smooth as you're used to with jarred or restaurant Alfredo.
A note on cooking
Similarly enough, also be sure not to keep the heat too high, or the same issue with the cheese clumping (or even scorching and breaking or separating from the sauce itself) may arise. It can be a bit finicky, but just be patient, and your sauce should come together beautifully.
Classic Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Add pasta and cook according to box directions, draining at about 1 minute less than box directions. (You want the pasta just a tad under al dente because it will finish cooking in the pan with the sauce. This helps facilitate an "enrobing," which helps tie the sauce and pasta together as one.) If using homemade or fresh pasta, cook only about 3 to 4 minutes, instead. Just before draining, reserve about 1 cup of hot, starchy cooking water.
In a very large saucepan or skillet, heat over medium heat and melt butter. If using, add cream now, and whisk.
Add a handful of grated Parmesan, a touch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Whisk well and let cook for 1 or 2 minutes.
Add warm, drained pasta directly to the pan and toss well with tongs. Add starchy cooking water in increments if the pasta seems dry.
Add more cheese, give it another toss, add parsley and serve immediately.
Cook's Notes
Some additives and alternatives:
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