Bow Tie Pasta with Chicken, Porcini Mushrooms and Green Chard

The other day, I had to give a brief introduction of myself to a group.  After the usual, this is where I went to school, this is what I do, I had a few minutes left to fill so I said “I don’t particularly like to exercise but I do it because it’s good for me and it’s easier than listening to my husband nag me.”  I will admit though, one of my latest sources for new recipes is coming while I am on the treadmill watching Food Network.  I may have to adapt my intro.

This recipe came from Giada De Laurentiis.  When at the grocery store, I could not find Swiss chard but there was green, red and rainbow.  The produce guy said red so I used green for no reason other than I didn’t want red spinach-y looking leaves in my pasta.  I also did not find rotisserie chicken breasts although I found a whole chicken, so I ended up roasting my own. (I also grilled some chicken breasts the other day and put them in the oven to finish them, turned off the oven, forgot about the chicken breasts, and David found them this morning – 3 days later).  This pasta is hearty, rich and creamy; better suited for the adult taste buds in our house.

Bow Tie Pasta with Chicken,
Porcini Mushrooms and Green Chard

Ingredients

1.      1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1.      1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms

2.      Kosher salt

3.      1 pound farfalle pasta

4.      3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

5.      1 large shallot, sliced

6.      1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

7.      One 12-ounce bunch green chard, center stems removed and leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces

8.      1 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature (8 ounces)

9.      2 cups of rotisserie or roasted chicken breasts, diced into 1/2-inch pieces

Place the chicken broth and mushrooms in a small saucepan.  Bring the broth and mushrooms to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat and allow the mushrooms to soften in the liquid, about 20 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and coarsely chop. Reserve the liquid.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the pasta until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and reserve about 1 cup pasta water.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick saute pan. Add the shallots, mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook until the shallots are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the chard and cook until wilted, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

 

Remove the pan from the heat, add the pasta and then the mascarpone cheese.  Stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  Add the chicken and the reserved mushroom-cooking liquid to the pasta.  Add reserved pasta water if necessary.  Toss until all the ingredients are coated and serve.

 

If roasting your own chicken breasts:

Preheat oven to 350. Rub chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35-45 minutes (chicken should reach 170 degrees). Allow to cool. Once cooled, remove skin and pull meat from the bones. Cut into bite size pieces.  Two bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (1 1/2- 2lbs) typically yield about 2 cups of cooked chicken meat.