Linguine with Chicken and Peanut Sauce - Recipe # 75

In the interests of minimalism - using regularly or loving what I have - I donated some cookbooks a couple of years ago to the Friends of the Library booksale. Before I did so, I carefully copied down the one or two recipes that I made regularly from those cookbooks (why keep an entire book for only two recipes?) and tried one or two that I had not prepared before to see if they might make the cut. Linguine with Chicken and Peanut Sauce is one of the ones I kept from the Better Homes & Gardens Pasta Cookbook, purchased in early college years from the West Seattle Target. My note at the end of the recipe states: ¨Rich - could use something extra - maybe lime/cilantro??¨. I followed my own advice, as well as adding red pepper flakes, which definitely helped. This is a good recipe for when you have a craving for Thai food, but are too lazy to go out or make it authentically from scratch.

Linguine with Chicken and Peanut Sauce

• 8 oz. linguine
• 14 1/2 oz. chicken broth
• 2 T. dry white wine or water (I used dry sherry, since I had it on hand)
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. cornstarch
• 1/4 t. ground red pepper
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1 T. cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 t. grated ginger
• 4 medium boneless, skinless breasts - 1¨ pieces (I only used 2 and it was ample)
• 2 green onions, sliced

Cook pasta. Drain; keep warm.

In medium bowl, stir together liquid ingredients, cornstarch and red pepper. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. Set aside. In wok or large skillet heat cooking oil over medium high. Add onion, garlic, ginger; stir fry 2-3 minutes or until onion is crisp tender. Remove from skillet. Add chicken to wok. Stir fry until no longer pink (recipe says 3 minutes, but it took a bit longer for me). Push to side of pan. Stir sauce, add to center of pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, then cook and stir two minutes more. Return onion mix to pan. Stir all together. Serve over pasta. Sprinkle with green onions.