Chicken and cremini mushrooms in a cream reduction sauce. Not “rigatoni d” from a nice Italian restaurant.

Ingredients

• 1 to 1.5 lbs of chicken breasts, cut to small chunks
• 12 to 16 oz of cremini mushrooms, sliced and with stems removed
• 0.25 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 0.33 cups white wine
• 0.67 cups of marsala
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups strong chicken stock
• 1 small white onion, finely diced
• 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, finely diced (or about 2 tbsp of minced garlic)
• Olive oil (just a little bit)
• 1 tsp dried basil
• Freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste
• Pasta and grated cheese for serving

Directions

1. Put the sliced mushrooms and balsamic vinegar in a skillet over medium-low heat and cook until done, stirring from time to time. Remove from heat when done to mix into the sauce near the end.
2. In a large pan over medium heat, saute the onion in a little olive oil until translucent and starting to brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the chicken, pepper, and basil. Stir to mix it all together.
5. Add the white wine, marsala, and chicken stock. Simmer over medium heat until volume is approximately halved, about 20 minutes.
6. Add the cream and simmer over medium heat until volume is approximately halved again, about 15 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and rest for a couple minutes. This lets the sauce thicken some.
8. Serve over a nice pasta for holding sauce, top with cheese.

Notes

• Cut everything up first. It makes a huge difference in how this dish comes together.
• Cheap wine is great here.
• I usually add about twice the chicken broth concentrate and not add any salt. The broth and cheese are salty enough.
• Makes good leftovers, reheats well. Wouldn’t freeze it though.