Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta

I always love pasta. I love that you can do so many different things with it. I love that dried pasta keeps in the pantry for a LONG time so you can have it for all of those last minute throw together meals. I love that we typically have it as a one dish meal. And apparently most of the rest of the world must agree with me right now as our shelves are currently pretty bare when it comes to pasta! That’s all I am going to say about the crazy pandemic going on right now as I am sure most of us are sick of hearing about it.

We have our favorites, but you can use any kind and shape of pasta you have on hand for this. Go ahead and bring a pot of water to boil, well salted and cook your pasta per the directions.

While your pasta is cooking, heat some ghee butter in a pan and add a couple tablespoons of minced garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the garlic is fragrant and add in your mushrooms. My favorite to use are cremini, but we had baby bella on hand so that is what went in. For this dish I used 2 pint containers. Add in some salt and pepper to taste and cook down for about 3 minutes over medium heat. Turn your heat up a little and add about 1-2 cups of dry white wine. I added about 2 as I’m making a large batch. Let this cook down until the liquid is 1/2 or less.

Next, I added in some fresh kale from the garden. Any green would work. I just ripped it into approx bite size pieces and stirred into the rest of the mixture. Your pasta should be about done now. Go ahead and drain and set aside, but add about 1/2-1 cup of the pasta water to your pan.

Next you add in your chicken. We like to make several smoked chickens, pull the meat and freeze leftovers for dishes like this and that is just what we did. However, you can use chicken breast, thighs, rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or whatever you have on hand. Cubed, diced or pulled is fine too! Stir that in until it is heated up well (note you do need to pre-cook the chicken.)

I added in about 2-3 tablespoons of parsley and about 1 cup of shredded cheese. Any hard cheese works, parmesan, romano, asiago or a combination of any.

Lastly, I stirred in about 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream. If you wanted a healthier option you could use coconut cream or even milk. That’s it – super simple. Add your pasta to the pan, mix together well and serve! I like to add a dash of freshly grated cheese on top and a sprig of parsley for plating if you want to get fancy! 😉

Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbsp ghee butter
  • 2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 pints mushrooms baby bella, cremini or whatever you prefer
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups dry white wine
  • 2-3 tsp parsley dried or fresh
  • 2 cups kale or fresh greens approx
  • 2.5 cups shredded chicken pre-cooked
  • 1 cup shredded cheese, parmesan
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions
 

  • Cook your pasta per the directions. Make sure to salt the water.
  • While pasta is cooking, heat ghee butter in pan and add garlic. Cook until fragrant and then add in mushrooms.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste, cook for about 3 minutes, turn your heat up and add white wine. Cook until liquid is reduced by at least half, stirring occasionally.
  • Add in shredded kale and about 1.5 cups of pasta water.
  • Add your chicken and cook about 4-5 minutes until meat is heated through.
  • Add in your parmesan cheese, stir. Add the heavy whipping cream and stir thouroughly.
  • Add your pasta to the mixture, stir together well and you are ready to serve!