We Found The Perfect Recipe
Don’t you just love when you find a perfect recipe? Well, we were thumbing through cookbooks looking for inspiration and found this featured recipe. This will definitely become a part of our regular rotation.
Stay At Home Meals
We have been staying home and cooking our meals since the onset of the pandemic. Other than when we had to travel for work, we have cooked every night. Fortunately, I love to cook and the hubs and my Dad enjoy most foods. We paired this pasta dish with a light 2018 Gewurztraminer from Clif Family Winery. Also, a crisp green salad with a tangy, sherry vinaigrette.
Menu Planning
Every week we plan our menus and shop for the ingredients to make things easy. We mentioned before that we plan for 5 meals and can decide what to make each day. This recipe was chosen so that we could use some chicken breasts that were leftover from another meal.
Setting The Scene
Another thing that we like to do is set a nice table for our meals. Right now we are keeping things simple with a blue and white theme. Of course, we have added a few coastal touches with a blue and white ginger jar and bowl of shells.
Our “Go-To” Cookbooks
Several of our “go-to” cookbooks are created by Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa and Giada Laurentiis. We have ALL of their cookbooks and refer to them often. Both have a casual approach to their meals and do not require a lot of ingredients. Also, they both mostly use “real” ingredients and not processed items.
As always, we adjusted the recipe to appeal to our taste. We like a little “kick” so added some red pepper flakes and we added more mascarpone for a creamier sauce. You could probably make this a vegetarian dish if you left out the chicken. The mushrooms, Swiss chard, and creamy sauce are delicious over the pasta. If you prefer a different pasta you could also change this up. A pappardelle would be nice or linguini.
Bow Tie Pasta With Chicken, Mushrooms And Chard
- January 11, 2021
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large shallot, sliced thin
- 1 package cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Pince of red pepper flakes
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock (we used only 1 cup)
- 1 bunch of Swiss chard (remove stems and chop into 1-inch pieces)
- 1/3 mascarpone cheese, at room temperature (we used 1/2 cup)
- 1 pound bow tie pasta (farfalle)
- 2 cups diced cooked skinless chicken breast
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Directions
- Step 1
- In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat
- Step 2
- Add the shallots and mushrooms to the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Step 3
- Cook until tender for 8 – 10 minutes
- Step 4
- Add the thyme and red pepper flakes
- Step 5
- Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost evaporated
- Step 6
- Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer
- Step 7
- Add the Swiss chard in batches until just wilted
- Step 8
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Step 9
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the mascarpone
- Step 10
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil
- Step 11
- Add the pasta and cook until al dente (8 – 10 minutes)
- Step 12
- Add the pasta and chicken to the pan with the sauce
- Step 13
- Stir to combine (we put the burner on low to keep the sauce warm and to heat the chicken through)
- Step 14
- Sprinkle with parmesan cheese
- Step 15
- Also, we added a couple of ladles of pasta water to the pan to get the perfect saucy consistency
- Step 16
- Enjoy!
Seems that things are becoming more and more challenging in our world and we find peace in creating delicious meals and sitting down at the table to enjoy time together. It’s just the hubs, my 91-year-old father, and myself trying to make the best of this time in quarantine. Other than the occasional trip to the market or walk in the fresh air we are staying home and staying healthy.
We wish you health and peace for 2021!