Pasta with Roasted Garlic, White Cheddar & Wine Sauce

This recipe was quite an adventure. When I saw the recipe in my stream on Google+ shared by +Lee Allison  I was like: "Oh boy, Pasta, Garlic, Cheese and Grilled Chicken all in one plate. AWESOME!!! Am definitely going to cook this. Thanks for sharing." If potatoes and bacon had found their way on that plate I would have drooled all over my keyboard. When you see a dish with a ton of your favourite ingredients you definitely have to cook it, no two ways about that.
It’s easy enough to throw together pasta with some cheese, protein and veggies and get a pretty decent meal out of it. This meal is great for company, just make sure to plan ahead and roast the garlic in advance and prepare the low-sodium chicken broth (though you can get it in a supermarket)!

Pasta with Roasted Garlic, White Cheddar & Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

8 oz. tube shaped pasta, such as penne

1½ tbsp. butter

¼ cup roasted garlic paste* (prepare in advance)

1½ tbsp. flour

¼ cup dry white wine

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese

1 head of broccoli, cut into florets and blanched until crisp-tender

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled and cut into bite size pieces

Salt and pepper, to taste

*To make roasted garlic paste, peel the outer papery skins off two heads of garlic, leaving the heads still intact. Slice about a quarter off the top of each head so that all of the cloves are partly exposed. Wrap the heads in foil (I had to improvise cause somehow I wasn't able to buy a foil, the decision to cook this meal was impromptu. So I bought two medium sized Goldentree chocolates ate them first :D, then I used their foil) and bake at 175˚ C for one hour. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool enough to touch, squeeze the garlic cloves out of the peels and smash with a fork to make roasted garlic paste.

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until al dente (a fancy term for pasta that's fully cooked, but not overly soft so as to be firm but not hard. Still offering resistance when chewed) according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the roasted garlic paste and cook just until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. Whisk the flour into the mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to turn golden brown, 1-2 minutes. Stir the white wine and broth into the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheddar and stir until melted. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Mix in the broccoli florets and chicken pieces, and cook just until heated through. Mix in the cooked pasta until evenly coated with the sauce. Serve warm.

Serves: 4

It's cheesy and tangy from the wine with that nice mellow garlic flavor that sneaks through. Definitely ready to make this dish again in the very near future. This is the response I got after cooking :D

Source: adapted from Annie's Eats

Happy cooking and eating. Comments welcome.