Spaghetti with Chanterelles, Chicken and Cream Print E-mail
Monday, 14 September 2009
Modeled after a recipe in Langdon Cook’s Brilliant book, Fat of the Land, this dish comes together in minutes. A quick sauté in butter, then a generous splash of cream gives the chanterelles in this dish a sumptuous quality that transcends an ordinary pasta dinner into a feast. The dark meat from a leftover roast chicken has a similar texture to the shards of chanterelles when the mushrooms were pulled apart lengthwise.

(Serves 4)
For the Noodles:

1/2 pound spaghetti noodles
2 quarts boiling water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
For the Mushroom Sauce:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms, torn lengthwise into bite-sized pieces
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
3 cups cooked chicken thigh meat, skinned, boned and torn into bit sized pieces
1 cup (about 4 ounces) frozen sweet peas, preferably organic
To Finish the Dish:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1.) Drop the spaghetti noodles into the boiling water with the kosher salt, and while they are cooking, make the sauce. If the ingredients are laid out in advance, the two elements of this dish will be ready at the same time.  
2.) To make the sauce, melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat and cook the mushrooms until they release their water then start to dry out, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream, salt, pepper and thyme, then add the chicken meat and the peas.  Stir the sauce gently with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until the chicken and peas are heated through.
3.) Drain the spaghetti noodles and toss them with the olive oil. Distribute the pasta evenly between four serving bowls and top each one with a quarter of the sauce and a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

 
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