Pasta With Chicken and Mushrooms, Risotto Style

I told you last week that I was no longer going to feel any shame about cooking pasta just as often as I want. So for the second week in a row: A pasta dish!

And for all you fellow pasta-lovers out there, a charming website: http://www.ilovepasta.org/shapes.html. At least I found it charming, but sometimes my taste is strange.

I have no doubt however, that you’ll love this recipe should you make it. You cook pasta slowly in stock rather than water, just as you would risotto. The result is a pasta dish with a deep flavor and a creamy texture, as well as a kitchen with only a single dirty pot. Who would be ashamed of that?

Another staple of Food Junta, aside from pasta dishes, is Mark Bittman, so it won’t surprise regular readers that this is another one of his. I like to talk about recipes as guidelines, and he refers to this one as a “pattern,” which is a term that I really like and will promptly appropriate for my own purposes.

Look at this recipe as a pattern. You can use whatever kind of stock you like, whatever pasta shape, whatever vegetables, etc. Just follow the basic pattern below, and you’ll be fine. There’s also a huge margin for error here. If your pasta is still too al dente, just keep adding liquid, There’s no real chance of adding too much liquid. In the worst case scenario, you wind up with soup, and that’s a pretty good worst case scenario.

Attention Vegetarians: Yes, I know, there’s chicken in the picture and in the recipe. This post is tagged as vegetarian because I used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, and the chicken could easily be omitted. Just wanted to make it clear I’m not an idiot. (At least not in this particular case. My broader idiocy is as yet indeterminate.)

Unless you have homemade chicken stock, I’d actually recommend vegetable stock. I find that store-bought chicken stock makes everything taste extremely like chicken in a way I don’t find desirable. Choose your own adventure, but that’s my two cents.

And my two metaphors.

Pasta With Chicken and Mushrooms, Risotto Style
From Mark Bittman

2 tablespoons olive oil, more as needed
1 shallot or small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups crimini, shiitake or button mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and sliced
1/2 pound cut pasta like gemelli or penne, or long pasta broken into bits
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine or water
3 to 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 boneless chicken thighs, diced
Chopped fresh parsley, optional
Freshly grated Parmesan, optional.

1. Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. When hot, add shallot, garlic and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms soften and begin to brown on edges, about 10 minutes. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is glossy and coated with oil, 2 to 3 minutes. Add a little salt and pepper, then wine. Stir and let liquid bubble away.

2. Ladle stock into skillet 1/2 cup or so at a time, stirring after each addition and every minute or so. When liquid is just about evaporated, add more. Mixture should be neither soupy nor dry. Keep heat at medium and stir frequently.

3. Begin tasting pasta 10 minutes after you add it; you want it to be tender but with a tiny bit of crunch. When pasta is about 3 to 4 minutes away from being done, add chicken and stir to combine. Continue to cook until chicken is done — it will be white on inside when cut — and pasta is how you like it. Taste, adjust seasoning, garnish with parsley and Parmesan if using, and serve.