Sghetti Noodle Beans

When my nephew IV was about 2 years old we would ask him what he ate for lunch during school and every single day his reply would be the same - "SghettiNoodleBeans". All one word, very confident and clear as day. It was as if we were the idiots for not knowing what he meant. After a little bit of discussion (well as much discussion as you can have with a two year old, especially one who uses words like sghettinoodlebeans) we found out that this meant pasta with tomato sauce. Now, his parents weren't sending him to some kind of tomato sauce pushing school with stock in Ragu so he didn't actually have this meal everyday, but he sure said they did. Despite how often he was actually being served pasta and tomato sauce, when he did eat this infamous meal it must have left a big impression on his young mind. To this day, IV still loves spaghetti! One of his favorite things to do is to sleep at his NiNi and Pappi's house and to go eat "sghetti" with them at their favorite Italian restaurant. So in honor of little IV I decided to whip up a very easy (cheat) dish of SghettiNoodleBeans - Forrest still calls it that! I admit it, sometimes I do not make everything homemade. Even when I don't I try to spruce up what I have chosen to serve so it has a little bit of a special touch. It is not much of a recipe, but I have included instructions to what I do if for some reason I serve pre-made tomato sauce.

IV of "Sghettinoodlebeans"

Tomato Sauce w/ Chicken and Artichoke Hearts

1 Jar of store bought tomato sauce
1 can of artichoke hearts
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Onion
3 gloves of garlic
Dry Basil
Dry Oregano
Crushed Red Pepper
1 bag of whole wheat Penne Rigate
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Saute 1 chopped onion and 3 minced gloves of garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until softened. Add Chicken pieces to pot, salt and pepper, cook throughout. Add premade tomato sauce to pot. Simmer on low for 15 minutes. Add quartered artichoke hearts. Sprinkle sauce with dry basil, dry oregano and crushed red pepper. Serve over cooked whole wheat pasta and garnish with shaved Parmesan.

Looks like my niece might follow in her cousin's footsteps - call me crazy, but she seems to be enjoying her sghetti-os as well!