Chicken and Vegetable Pasta in a White Wine Cream Sauce

 Thanksgiving is over, and I think I have successfully stretched out my stomach for good. It took a lot of hard work, focus, and teamwork, but I did it. How do I know? Because on Sunday night when we returned home from Chicago, I wanted something light, fresh, and healthy. I arrived at the grocery store with no recipe and an open mind - I wanted the produce section to do the talking. Asparagus? Yes! Mushrooms? Yum! Peas? Definitely! Hm...what could I make with all of these fresh vegetables? It came to me immediately.


Pasta in a cream sauce with chicken and pancetta. And light went right out the window. But, delicious came in. We loved this.

Recipe:

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Pancetta
• Fetuccine
• 1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 bag frozen peas 
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms (portabella, cremini, baby bella, whatever!)
• 3 T. butter
• 1/4 cup plus 2 T. white wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 T. corn starch
• parsley
• italian seasoning
• salt & pepper
• olive oil

Chop the chicken up into 1-inch pieces and place into a bowl. Drizzle generously with olive oil, then S&P and Italian seasoning. Toss and let sit at room temp for 15 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add a little olive oil (not much is needed), and add chicken. Cook for about 10 minutes, until done. Transfer to a plate.

In a separate skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Add the asparagus and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring in plenty of salt and pepper (1/2 t. each). Add the mushrooms, cook for another few minutes. Add the frozen peas. Continue stirring, adding more olive oil if necessary, for another 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook the pasta.

Pour the wine into the vegetable pan. Turn the heat up to medium-high and let it reduce a little. Reduce the heat to low.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and chicken broth, stirring until melted. Pour in the cream and milk, cooking for a few more minutes. In a separate bowl whisk together the corn starch and 1/4 cup water...add to the pan, stirring and cooking to thicken.  Add the chicken back into the vegetable mixture now, and stir to combine. I would add the crumbled pancetta here as well, but Central Market was out!! Stupid Thanksgiving over-eaters.

When the pasta is done (I used fresh fetuccine from Central Market, it only took about 4 minutes after boiling) - drain it then return to low heat for a minute to dry them out a bit. Pour the cream/vegetable mixture into the pasta. Stir to combine, then top with parsley.  I added a pinch more half and half here, because we wanted it extra creamy.

Don't worry, this was only half of my serving. A full plate of it looked a little excessive and disgusting for public display.

Add plenty of parmesan.

Then serve it with a fresh green salad, bread & butter, and fall in love with the world.