Pasta With Chicken in a Light White Wine and Fresh Herb Sauce

Shuzbud's Note:

This is a fresh, light meal that is great for the warmer times of year. The sauce is not thick or heavy but coats the pasta for an even flavour. The choice of herbs here is merely what I have found to work well but please adjust to your family's tastes! The herbs should be fresh though- dried herbs will not give the same result. The fresh basil really brings out the flavours in this dish. UPDATE: In light of a review, I have tried this dish again and increased the liquid ingredients in the recipe to provide more sauce. It is important in this recipe to include the stock cube as there is something in it that thickens the sauce. If you must leave it out, add an alternative thickening agent.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 cups dry pasta (or equivalent of fresh pasta)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 chicken breasts, diced
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 10 -12 leaves fresh basil, chopped
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1 chicken stock cube

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the chicken, red onion and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through.
2. Start to cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet (if using fresh pasta, wait a while as it takes less time to cook).
3. Pour the white wine into the skillet with the chicken, bring to the boil and simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half. Do not reduce it for too long or there will not be enough sauce.
4. Stir in the mascarpone cheese and fresh herbs. Crumble in the half stock cube.
5. Heat the sauce through gently for a few minutes but do not boil.
6. Drain the pasta and spoon the sauce over it in the pan. Toss to coat the pasta.
7. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[weekend cooker]

Made for lunch for DS, and I . We enjoyed this, thought the preparation, flavors were great, thought that the sauce was a tad runny. I did add a wee bit of cornstarch to the sauce as it did thichen up, making this a nice meal all together. Made for Pick a Chef 2012..

[Karen Elizabeth]

Well, we really liked this, and I found the sauce perfect. I actually reduced the amount of wine by half a cup, it just seemed like such a lot of wine, and I didn't have quite a cup of mascarpone, more like about 3/4, so I added a good slug of heavy cream. I used fresh herbs from the garden, a generous handful of basil, some snipped chives and some Italian parsley. I also added about 100gr sliced mushrooms, sauteeing them with the wine and chicken. Overall, really good, thank you Shuzbud.. Made for I Recommend tag game

[The Wallaces]

This was wonderful! I knew I would love this with the blend of fresh herbs, mascarpone, and white wine :) I made this according to the recipe, but did have to add about 2 tsp cornstarch to thicken up the sauce (maybe the chicken stock cubes are different in the UK compared to the US). I used whole wheat linguine, and the sauce stuck nicely to it. While the sauce was a little bit runny compared to some sauces I've made, I've definitely had some sauces that were runnier than this one, so I think that you have the right amount of ingredients for the sauce now :) I would recommend having a crusty baguette to soak up leftover sauce as we did! Thanks Shuzbud for a great recipe that really showcases the mascarpone! Made for Holiday tag.