For the Love of Mushrooms - Fettuccine Alfredo

Lately I have been experimenting with mushrooms - always liked them, now I love them. I am talking about the kind you eat with your meals by the way. The little white button mushrooms are okay and I love the Shiitake mushrooms that are so delicious but a little expensive and sometimes hard to find in fresh form. Recently though I started using the Cremini/Crimini (baby Portobello mushrooms) - side note ... what is the proper spelling - is it Cremini or Crimini? I have been told both are correct.

Anyways this little Italian brown mushroom is much denser in flavor than the common white button variety and to me has a meatier texture as well. So over the past month or more I have included these guys in nearly every dish I have prepared for my folks. My Dad never cared for mushrooms but now he likes them quite well. I have used them in anything from roasted chicken breast to chicken fried steak to prime rib roast. It was very much against my Texas upbringing to include mushrooms with chicken fried steak - I made an au ju beef stock pan sauce loaded with mushrooms in stead of the traditional milk, flour and grease pan gravy. It worked out well.

So, a couple of days ago I was shopping for ingredients to cook a meal for the folks and was having a creative mental block on what to cook. I wanted to do something that we hadn't had in the past year or so. I wanted something quick and easy to prepare as I only had about two hours to shop and then put the meal on the table. Fettuccine Alfredo came to mind. I love that dish so much. It is super rich and packed with flavor so I don't have it often and have never made it for my folks. I recalled a conversation with my father where I think he said he didn't care for white sauce and pasta - he was more of a red sauce kind of guy. So I hesitated a moment then decided perhaps he has just never had a decent white sauce pasta dish. My mind was now set - Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and mushrooms.

Here is how I put it together -

I took a couple shortcuts but was able to put out a pretty tasty meal in about 30 minutes.
For the Alfredo Sauce I decided to try the Bertolli Brand - http://www.villabertolli.com/products/1008/alfredo.aspx
For the pasta fettuccine I went with a fresh, refrigerated Buitoni brand - http://www.buitoni.com/Product-Category/Cut-Pasta.aspx#/cut-pasta
Dice finely 1/2 large yellow onion and set aside
Slice about 3 cups fresh cremini (baby portabelle) mushrooms and set aside
Mince 3 to 4 fresh large cloves of garlic
Finely mince about 2 cups fresh parsley
Slice 1.5 to 1.75 lbs boneless chicken thighs into small bite sized pieces
Heat a heavy skillet with 1/2 stick butter and about 3 tbs olive oil. Bring to medium high heat then add your salt and peppered chicken thighs. The chicken will render a lot of moisture and fat so after about 8 to 10 minutes you can drain off about 95% of the liquid.
Next add the onion, garlic, mushrooms and 1 cup of the parsley to the skillet. Lower the heat to medium and saute for about 7 minutes. Next add about 1.5 cups white wine to the skillet and allow it to reduce by 2/3.
Now is the time to add the fresh pasta to a large pot of boiling salted water. I used 18 oz of pasta.
Once your chicken, mushroom, onion and garlic mixture has reduced you can add 2 jars of the Bertolli Alfredo sauce. Mix well and watch for a nice consistency, thinning it if needed with white wine or milk. You then will slowly begin adding fresh grated Parmesan cheese and the sauce will begin to thicken nicely. * also add dried oregano to taste.
Your fresh pasta will be done pretty quickly so pay attention and look for a not quite done al dente texture. Drain the pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of liquid and add both to the chicken and alfredo sauce. Gently mix all together and then plate your dishes. Garnish each dish with some of the remaining parsley, grated Parmesan and some fresh cracked black pepper.
This made about 8 to 10 adult sized servings. Makes delicious leftovers as well.

I used chicken thighs this time for two reasons. I needed a tender meat for my Dads sake and chicken thighs just have more flavor than the breasts. Well, he loved it. So did I. To me the mushrooms were the highlight of the dish - tender yet meaty, they held the flavor of the wine quite nicely and added a little color and texture to an other wise bland looking dish. For a side dish I prepared some fresh lightly steamed broccoli with a lemon butter sauce.

You can make your own Alfredo sauce but with quality ingredients it will add a bit to the cost of the meal though it will be worth it in the end. Dried pasta can be used, fresh was better and quicker, and home made would be best but I was short on time.

So, I hope you guys give it a try and also hope you pass along your favorite mushroom dish here. It has been said that you are what you eat - if true then I guess that makes me a fungi ;)

Cheers