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teddywolfI have, for several years, been trying to manage a good version of chicken and mushrooms with pasta and balsamic vinegar. I had this dish at Antonia's in Davis Square, which used to be located where the Boston Burger Company is now, and wanted to make it at home. Tonight I think I got it right. My wife says it's better than what Antonia's did.
Ingredients:
4-6 shallots, sliced and toasted
4-5 sundried tomatoes, chopped
2 caps portabella mushrooms (6oz pkg), sliced
2 popper-sized yellow peppers, roasted and finely chopped
2 chicken breast halves, sliced and marinated
~ a couple dozen cloves roasted garlic
1 lb radiatorre pasta (dry weight)
1 Tbsp dry basil (possibly heaping)
extra virgin olive oil, as needed
balsamic reduction, as needed
marsala wine, as needed
First, slice your shallots and toast them in oil over fairly low heat. Don't deglaze - we aren't caramelizing them. Slice your chicken while this is happening (I cut the slices in half for size), put in a bowl and assemble marinade. I used lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, half-sharp paprika, ground ancho pepper, horseradish powder and extra virgin olive oil. Store-bought lemon juice is fine for this application. You want the chicken to marinate for at least half an hour. I'd say max of two hours - I hit 45 minutes.
If you are using a small burner for cooking your huge pot of water for the pasta, this is the time to put it on the stove. Let it heat up while everything else is cooking.
Remove your shallots from the pan, turn up to medium high, and add your mushrooms and more oil. After a minute or so, add your roasted garlic cloves. You can use a little marsala to deglaze if you need to. Remove when done into a large bowl with the shallots and sundried tomatoes. Add more oil and as much chicken as will fit in your frying pan without overcrowding. The chicken will cook fairly quickly, only 1-2 minutes for the first size and about a minute for the second side. Repeat until you are done with the chicken. Put the chicken in the bowl with the vegetables and put in your basil. If you want to heat up the roasted peppers and balsamic, add the peppers to the pan, deglaze with a little marsala, then add plenty of balsamic reduction. Turn off the heat on the frying pan.
If you have had the chance to cook your pasta while cooking the chicken, great. Drain and put in the big bowl with the vegetables and chicken. Now add your balsamic and peppers. I added some extra evoo and a little more balsamic reduction because it looked like it needed it. Toss and serve.
This is amazingly tasty stuff, flavorful and zingy without a harsh acidic bite. It took time to prepare, but a lot of my prep time was done long in advance - I had the balsamic reduction and roasted garlic cloves already done and the marinade didn't take long to throw together. The longest effort outside the cookpots was slicing and chopping chicken and vegetables.
Ingredients:
4-6 shallots, sliced and toasted
4-5 sundried tomatoes, chopped
2 caps portabella mushrooms (6oz pkg), sliced
2 popper-sized yellow peppers, roasted and finely chopped
2 chicken breast halves, sliced and marinated
~ a couple dozen cloves roasted garlic
1 lb radiatorre pasta (dry weight)
1 Tbsp dry basil (possibly heaping)
extra virgin olive oil, as needed
balsamic reduction, as needed
marsala wine, as needed
First, slice your shallots and toast them in oil over fairly low heat. Don't deglaze - we aren't caramelizing them. Slice your chicken while this is happening (I cut the slices in half for size), put in a bowl and assemble marinade. I used lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, half-sharp paprika, ground ancho pepper, horseradish powder and extra virgin olive oil. Store-bought lemon juice is fine for this application. You want the chicken to marinate for at least half an hour. I'd say max of two hours - I hit 45 minutes.
If you are using a small burner for cooking your huge pot of water for the pasta, this is the time to put it on the stove. Let it heat up while everything else is cooking.
Remove your shallots from the pan, turn up to medium high, and add your mushrooms and more oil. After a minute or so, add your roasted garlic cloves. You can use a little marsala to deglaze if you need to. Remove when done into a large bowl with the shallots and sundried tomatoes. Add more oil and as much chicken as will fit in your frying pan without overcrowding. The chicken will cook fairly quickly, only 1-2 minutes for the first size and about a minute for the second side. Repeat until you are done with the chicken. Put the chicken in the bowl with the vegetables and put in your basil. If you want to heat up the roasted peppers and balsamic, add the peppers to the pan, deglaze with a little marsala, then add plenty of balsamic reduction. Turn off the heat on the frying pan.
If you have had the chance to cook your pasta while cooking the chicken, great. Drain and put in the big bowl with the vegetables and chicken. Now add your balsamic and peppers. I added some extra evoo and a little more balsamic reduction because it looked like it needed it. Toss and serve.
This is amazingly tasty stuff, flavorful and zingy without a harsh acidic bite. It took time to prepare, but a lot of my prep time was done long in advance - I had the balsamic reduction and roasted garlic cloves already done and the marinade didn't take long to throw together. The longest effort outside the cookpots was slicing and chopping chicken and vegetables.
