Last night, I decided to make a pasta meal and use up a bunch of stuff in my fridge/pantry. Plus, Richard LOVES my pasta dishes. And this one was particularly good, if I do say so myself. In case you want to make a carb-coma-inducing-yet-deeply-satisfying meal, here’s the recipe.
Before I begin, let me just add this disclaimer that I don’t usually follow a recipe when I cook. So my amounts are guess-timates and hardly close to exact. I am one of those people who simply cooks by feel and taste. I only follow directions when I’m baking. Anyhoo, I apologize if my recipe doesn’t have explicit enough instructions for you – I will try my best!
Here’s what you’ll need:
One pound of pasta
Cheese, freshly grated
Garlic, at least three cloves
Large onion, at least one
Mushrooms, about one pound
Spinach, about a half pound
Chicken breasts, two or three (around two pounds)
Philadelphia Cooking Crème, one small tub (garlic or regular flavor)
White wine, about one cup
Sugar, couple of teaspoons
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper (do I really even need to mention these??)
To begin, grate about a cup of cheese (more if you’re a cheese lover like me). I like bigger shreds, so I don’t use the fine grate. I also like a variety of cheese mixed together because I’m a complex girl with complex taste buds. Therefore, I used four different cheeses that I had on hand last night. They included Prima Donna (if you’ve never had this cheese, go find some stat), sharp aged provolone (the sharper the better), Parmigiano Reggiano, and some sheep milk’s cheese that I forget the name of (Pecorino Romano would work in its place). Usually I would include Locatelli too, but sadly I ran out. I used this mixture with Locatelli for potatoes au gratin recently and it was amazing. Never underestimate the power of good cheese.
Doesn’t this look delicious? Believe me, it is.
Next, it’s time to slice one or two large onions. Try to keep the slices about the same size, so they cook evenly. Throw the sliced onions in sauté pan over medium heat with a little olive oil. Add a couple teaspoons of sugar (more if you like your onions super sweet) and, of course, salt and pepper. You’ll let this onion mixture cook for a while, at least a half hour depending on the amount of onions you have. Stir them often so they don’t burn. They’re ready when they’ve reduced down to about a ¼ of what you started with, they’re super soft and mushy, and a deep caramel brown.
While the onions are going, prep the other ingredients. Cube the chicken breasts and season then with salt and pepper. Mince the garlic cloves. De-stem the spinach leaves. Slice the mushrooms (skip this step if you bought pre-sliced mushrooms like me). Fill a big pot with water and a generous handful of salt and start heating it to a boil.
Remove the onions from the sauté pan. Add a little more olive oil and heat the pan back up. Add in the cubed chicken when the pan is hot. Let the chicken brown for a few minutes.
Then add in about a cup of white wine to deglaze the pan and make a delicious sauce. Hmmmmm, wine. And stop judging, I haven’t forgotten about Baby Kopp – the alcohol will cook off, I swear!
And, yes, the time on the microwave is accurate – I’m only making dinner at 7:45pm. Richard and I are very European in that we never have dinner before 8.
By the way, when the water is boiling, add in your pasta. I used Cellentani, because I love fun shaped pasta. But anything you have will do.
While the wine and chicken are busy bubbling away together in the pan, add the garlic and some more salt and pepper (it’s all about layering the seasoning, folks).
Then throw the mushrooms into the mix. As you can tell my pan was pretty full…I recommend using a larger sauté pan than this if you have one.
When the mushrooms are almost done, add the caramelized onions back into the pan and then stuff in the spinach. Don’t be alarmed by the heap of spinach because it’ll cook down to nothing in less than a minute. Cooked spinach is disappointing/deceptive in that way.
You could stop here after adding the spinach – just add the mixture in with the cooked, drained pasta. But since I like decadence and creaminess and, in my defense, I’m pregnant and I need my dairy, I decided to add some Philadelphia Cooking Crème. Plus it was about to expire and needed to be used. If you don’t have any Cooking Crème but still want to add some extra richness, feel free to mix in some heavy cream or regular old cream cheese cut into cubes instead.
As you can imagine, this pan of deliciousness smells wonderful at this point. The wine, the mushrooms, the sweet onions, the chicken, and the melted cream cheese make an irresistible aroma together. That being said, if you don’t like one or more of these ingredients, feel free to leave them out or add something else in instead. Bacon or prosciutto would work well in place of the chicken. The alternatives are endless…which is why I love making pasta!
Obviously, for the last step, you’ll want to add this pan of goodness to the cooked, drained pasta and toss it all together. Yummy!
Put a heaping pile of the steaming pasta and chicken mixture on your plate/bowl and top with a generous amount of the grated cheese. Then savor that first forkful of carb heaven (with a little protein thrown in – thank you poultry!). This first forkful will guarantee second helpings – don’t fight it, just enjoy another bowlful. Since I’m Italian and don’t like to waste food, I recommend going all Paula Deen on this meal and wiping every last remnant of tasty goodness off your plate with a big, crusty piece of bread. Also, if you are able to imbibe, I highly recommend washing this down with a glass of chardonnay or two.
You need a pinterest share so I can post this there 🙂