Spiced-Up Three Cheese Tortellini with Chicken

I got the urge to experiment the other night. My mom was the guinea pig. It was overall quite the pleasant experience.

Recipe
**Please note my dry spice amounts are palm approximations. - I do not use measuring spoons, I use my hand. - You may wish to play around with the amounts to reach a personal desired flavor...**

2-4 chicken breasts
1 pkg 3-cheese tortellini, cooked as directed
1 can pasta sauce of choosing (I used Bertolli 5-Cheese)
1 tbsp butter

Chicken Marinade:
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
5 jalapeno peppers, cut into rings with seeds
~6 oz red wine vinegar
1/2 can chicken broth
1 tbsp ground red pepper
1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tbsp season salt

Toss all the marinade ingredients into a bowl and mix throughly, then transfer to a ziplock bag. Add chicken breasts and seal. Marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes, no more than 2 hours.

Begin boiling water for tortellini and cook as directed by box.

Melt 1 tbsp butter in skillet. Pull marinated chicken out and place in skillet. Pour in some of marinade, as if half frying, half poaching the chicken. Cook until chicken is done. Cut into bite-sized pieces to place in pasta.

When all components are finished, pour pasta, sauce, and chicken pieces in serving bowl.

Eat.

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I was rather pleased with this dish. I'm always nervous when I start to cook up an idea that I, well, cooked up. I used a red sauce for the pasta, even though typically white sauces go better with chicken I think. I personally don't like the cheese-y-ness of my food to overpower the other flavors, hence my choice of the red sauce with cheese flavor. The chicken had a fantastic bite to it and it held a strong flavor next to the sauce and tortellini. The sauce didn't mask the flavor of the chicken which was rewarding because the chicken was a dish all its own.

I hope anyone who tries this enjoys it as much as I did. :)

**Picture to follow**