Pasadena Woman Wins $10,000 in Creamette’s Essay and Recipe Contest

A Pasadena woman won the $10,000 grand prize with her “Simple Dinner Pasta” in Creamette’s Pasta Comfort Food Recipe and Essay Contest which ran last March 21 to May 30.

Christine Chan bested several other entries with her mother’s hand-down chicken pasta recipe which is composed of a box of Creamette penne rigate pasta, a roasted chicken, carrots, clove garlics, a head kale and a butter.

“It’s comfort food and the sauce is light so you don’t feel like — it’s not like Mac ‘N Cheese where you feel loaded on sometimes,” Chan said. “It still feels delicately healthy and comfortable.”

The criteria for the contest are overall appeal of the recipe, relevance of the essay and recipe to the “comfort food” theme and creative use of Creamette pasta.

“I come from a big family who loves to get together for dinners. When I felt homesick in college, my mom encouraged me host a dinner party in my dorm room. I was on the phone with my mom the entire time as she talked me through each step of this chicken pasta recipe,” Chan said in her essay.

“It turned out beautifully and the dinner parties became an ongoing ritual throughout college. 10 years later, my friends threw me a surprise engagement party and served this delicious Creamette pasta dish as a nod to our first gathering,” she added.

Chan said she just had her appendix removed in a hospital when she found out about the contest from a magazine.

“I came across this contest and I thought, ‘I have the perfect pasta recipe.’ It’s so delicious. I better try it,” Chan said.

Chan noted that a part of her prize will be donated to her two favorite youth organizations, while the remaining money will be used for her upcoming wedding with her fiancé.

Nine other recipes were awarded as first place winners with a prize of $500 each: Twice Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Pan Spaghetti, Mom’s Homestyle Italian Ring Soup, Dilled Ranch Vegetable Pasta Salad, Penne Palooza, Fiesta Mac N’ Cheese Soup, Spicy Ring of Fire Shrimp Pasta, Hungarian Goulash and Creamy Tuna Porcini Noodle Caserole.

Creamette was established in 1896 with James T. Williams’ loan of $100. It was sold to Borden in 1979, and since then became a part of the New World Pasta family of brands, the leading dry pasta manufacturer in the United States, with brands including Ronzoni Healthy Harvest, Ronzoni Smart Taste and Ronzoni Garden Delight.

For more information on Chan’s winning recipe, visit http://creamette.newworldpasta.com/