9.15.2007

Pasta with chicken and a garlic cream sauce

Serving size: 4 with a little bit of left overs
1 pack vermicelli noodles (the small spaghetti noodles like angel hair)
5 cloves garlic rough chopped (at least this many, depends on how much you like garlic, personally I use more)
4 chicken breasts (Think one per person you are serving)
1 cup milk or heavy cream
2-3 cups chicken broth
1- package mushrooms, washed and sliced
1/2 large white onion preferably vidalia
1 large jar marinated artichoke hearts drained
2-3 Tbsp butter
2-3 Tbsp flour
Salt
Pepper
olive oil
Fresh Parmesan cheese

  1. Boil pasta in large pot.
  2. While pasta boiling preheat large deep skillet to medium low.
  3. Cube chicken to bite size pieces
  4. Coat pan with olive oil and add chicken, salt and pepper
  5. Cook until chicken is almost done
  6. Dice onions, mushrooms and garlic and add in with chicken (you don't add it at the beginning or you will burn your garlic.)
  7. Move chicken to the outside of the pan and add butter and flour to center of pan, whisk until butter/flour mixture turns the color of toasted bread or a light golden color, this creates a roux (pronounced roo)
  8. Mix chicken into your roux and add in the first cup of chicken stock raising heat to medium high, stir until thickens. Sauce will be very thick
  9. Whisk in second cup of stock, up to three until desired consistency.
  10. Taste sauce at this point and add in more salt and pepper to taste. Heavy pepper is good in this dish.
  11. Add in artichoke hearts, reduce heat to low and allow sauce to continue cooking and thickening.
  12. At the very end add in your milk or cream starting with a half a cup first.
  13. Drain pasta and add to sauce, coating pasta with chicken and cream sauce.
  14. Top with Parmesan cheese and enjoy.
If sauce gets to thick it is better to add more stock then milk, as milk or cream will make the dish to rich and take away from the flavor of mushrooms, and artichokes. If your sauce is not thick enough turn up the heat and quickly whisk in more flour.

**If you have a gluten or wheat intolerance, you can make this same dish by mixing about 2 Tbsp of cornstarch in with 1/2 cup cold chicken stock and adding that in place of flour and butter. This will also cause your sauce to thicken just as well. Like the roux, if it isn't thick enough simply dissolve more cornstarch in chicken sauce and add in. Both of these need heat to activate.

** You can make this same recipe vegetarian, by eliminating the chicken and using vegetable broth. I use thick chunked portobello mushrooms in place of chicken for my recipe.

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