Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta

Mushrooms are an epic ingredient of autumn. Slavic people are avid mushroom foragers. In Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, etc. it’s almost a sport. Autumn is an exciting time of year. After a good rainfall, the next few days are the best time to hit the forest trails, scrounging around in the leaves and underneath pine needles looking for the treasures to drop into your basket or bag. Don’t ever go mushroom picking unless you know what you’re doing or have someone who has experience with you. Poisoning yourself with unknown mushrooms is a very serious thing, so don’t take it lightly.

Of course, as most things in the Slavic culture, mushroom foraging is done with lots of liveliness and boisterous companionship. Brothers, cousins, uncles, grandmas – every relative and friend comes along for the fun. Some of my warmest family memories are mushroom foraging in the crisp fall air, breathing in the incomparable forest smells, with lots of laughter and happy conversations all around.

Of course, there’s no mushroom foraging to be had in the city, so I sadly resign myself to boring grocery store mushrooms. However, they make for a delicious and quick dinner, and using dry porcini mushrooms really pumps up the flavor of the dish, until it tastes just like the treasures of the forest floors. 

Ingredients:

1/2  lb (8 oz) pasta (corkscrews, penne, rigatoni, campanelle, etc)

2 chicken breast halves

1/2 Tablespoon oil

1 oz dry porcini mushrooms, (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup boiling water

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 thyme springs

8 oz mushrooms (baby bella, button, etc.)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/4 -1/3 cup heavy cream

salt, pepper

Place a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta according to how you like it.

While you’re waiting, prep all your ingredients.

Pour the boiling water over the dry porcini mushrooms and set aside to re hydrate for about 5 minutes or so. Slice the fresh mushrooms, chop the onion. Dry the chicken breast halves on a paper towel and season with salt and pepper on both sides.

When the mushrooms have re hydrated, wash them to make sure there isn’t any more dirt hiding in the mushrooms. Strain the water that was used re hydrate the mushrooms through a fine mesh sieve lined with a coffee filter. Save the liquid; we’ll be using it in the sauce.

I buy my porcini mushrooms online at nuts.com. These mushrooms have incredible flavor and I like to add them to many recipes. I have never been able to find such amazing quality of mushrooms that are so big, juicy and meaty. The price is great too! Try them out.  (This is not a sponsored post. I only recommend them since that’s where I buy them all the  time and have been really pleased with the quality of the mushrooms and the customer service.) 

Heat 1/2 Tablespoon of oil in a skillet on high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden on both sides and the chicken is cooked through. (You can check the chicken for doneness with an instant read thermometer; it should be 165 degrees in the thickest part of the chicken).

Take the chicken off the skillet, cover to keep warm.

In the same skillet, add the butter, reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 8 minutes. Add the strained mushroom liquid and the chicken broth.

Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream. Remove the thyme sprigs. Cut the chicken on the bias. Toss the pasta with sauce.

Add the chicken and serve.