* Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta

I've been going through all of my kitchen cupboards doing a bit of cleaning and re-arranging, so that I can see better what food I have available and make space for more.

I'm joking.

There is no space for more... I live in a rabbit hutch. I just had an urge to re-invent the interior of my kitchen cupboards because I made the fatal mistake of visiting Homebase last week and ended up looking at beautiful, stream lined, well designed, brand new kitchens.... then came home and wanted to burn the house down.

When re-arranging et al - I discovered a bag of dried porcini mushrooms that I bought a couple of weeks back... and dinner was decided. Sort of. What I really wanted to make was a risotto, but as yet I have not discovered the trick to making a mushroom risotto that doesn't look like something the cat coughed up.... also - Neil doesn't really like risotto and is starting to suss out when I say "It's a rice thingy", that it is, in fact... a risotto.

So seeing as I can probably only use the "Rice Thingy" as an excuse maybe one more time and get away with it... I made a Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta, and threw in a large handful of curly kale at the end, to add a bit of crunch. If I'd had any spinach I might have used that - but me and spinach is doing a Ross and Rachel and we is "On a Break".

Of course... I did have some creme fraiche standing to attention in the fridge, giving me it's best toothless smile, so I bunged some of that in.

How could I resist?

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Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Recipe

Serves 4

Prep time - 5 minutes
Cooking time - 15 - 20 minutes
Total time - 20 - 25 minutes

You will need
A pot for boiling pasta
A large non stick frying pan/skillet

Ingredients
8oz/240g dried penne (or pasta of your choice)
1 tbsp olive oil or 10 sprays fry light
10oz/300g uncooked chicken breast - sliced and seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper
2oz/40g dried porcini mushrooms
9oz/250g chestnut mushrooms (or whatever you have available) - thickly sliced
1 tsp dried thyme or 1 tbsp fresh thyme
7fl oz/200ml white wine
2oz/50g curly kale - shredded/chopped
7fl oz/200ml creme fraiche or double/heavy cream
Manchego Cheese to garnish


Method

• Cook pasta according to the packet instructions and get on with the rest.
• Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a bowl and barely cover with boiling water, set aside.
• Heat the pan over a medium/high heat and spray with fry light (or add oil).
• Cook the chicken in the pan for 3 minutes or until no pink remains.
• Add the chestnut mushrooms and thyme and cook for 1 minute.
• Remove the porcini mushrooms from the water (keep the water) and throw them into the pan - cook for another minute.
• Pour in the wine and reserved mushroom water and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half - about 5-8 minutes.
• Throw in the curly kale and then stir in the creme fraiche (or cream).
• Add the cooked, drained pasta and mix it all together.
• Serve garnished with shavings of Manchego Cheese. 

NOTE:The combination of porcini mushrooms and creme fraiche made this into quite a highly flavoured dish, so if you wanted to soften it up a tad, use cream in place of the creme fraiche and/or leave the porcini mushrooms out. If you do leave the porcini out, you'll need to use about 7fl oz/200ml of chicken stock in place of the mushroom water.

EAT 

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