Monday, May 9, 2011

Creamy Chicken/Mushroom Penne Pasta by Janet Fox

I must say I am the worlds worst about writing down recipes I come up with.  There are so many great recipes that have been magically created in my kitchen and I always say "I need to write this one down" and I never do...well I'm going to write one down now.  It was so creamy and delicious, I'll make it again and take a picture soon!

Ingredients needed:

Chicken breast or tenders cut into 2 inch chunks
1 cup Mascarpone Cheese
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan
Penne Pasta cooked al dente
1/2 cup button mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup cream mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup Shiitake mushrooms sliced
3 shallots finely chopped
1 large clove of garlic chopped
1/4 cup prosciutto chopped in small little cubes
1/2 cup of a nice white wine, one that you would drink
1 cup of a good chicken broth
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Vegetable Oil
Butter

Directions
Get a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil and add about 2 tblsp salt.  Turn off heat for now you will turn it back on a little later.

In a 10 to 12 inch fry pan add 2 tblsp olive oil and 1 tblsp butter.  Saute shallots and garlic till soft but not browned. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
Add more olive oil and another tblsp butter to the same pan and add sliced mushrooms and prosciutto, cook till lightly browned.
While the mushrooms and prosciutto are browning get out a pan you would use to fry chicken in like a cast iron skillet and add about 1 cup of vegetable oil to it and set on high heat.
Meanwhile take the flour and put it in a plastic bag and put the cut up chicken in the bag with the flour a little at a time and shake the bag to coat the chicken.  Remove the pieces of coated chicken from the bag shaking off excess flour and place in the pan you have just prepared.  (Keep stirring your mushrooms and prosciutto, don't let them burn.)Make sure the oil is hot and not to overload the pan with too much chicken.  Cook a few pieces of chicken at a time and drain on paper towels and season with salt and pepper while still fresh out of oil.  Once all the chicken is cooked set aside.
Now your mushrooms and prosciutto will be nice and browned,  add the shallots and garlic you sautéed earlier back to the pan with the mushrooms and prosciutto, and add the wine.  You will hear the wine sizzle this is good because the pan should be hot.  after about 2 minutes add the chicken broth.  Cook till reduced by half.
While you are reducing the sauce turn the burner on under the pan you prepared earlier for the penne pasta and get it boiling again.  Once the salted water is boiling add the penne pasta to the water and cook till al dente.
When the pasta has about 1 more minute to cook add the mascarpone cheese to the mushroom mixture pan and stir till all melted.  Salt and pepper the mushroom mixture to taste.
Drain the pasta and place in with the mushrooms and toss, you can add more chicken broth or pasta water to the pan if it needs it.  Add as much pasta as you want based on how creamy you want your dish.  Now add the chicken that you set aside and toss it around to coat well, and lastly add the parmesan cheese and toss some more....

Serve with some nice garlic bread (but not too much garlic) and the rest of the white wine you used in the dish....
Enjoy!

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