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Creamy One-Pot Pasta With Chicken and Mushrooms

By Mark Bittman

Creamy One-Pot Pasta With Chicken and Mushrooms
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Michelle Gatton.
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(8,729)
Comments
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Cooking pasta the way you would make risotto may sound new and hip. But it’s at least old enough to have been demonstrated to me in Rome in 1976, and I imagine as old as pasta itself. In this method, the liquid is minimized: there’s no need for a gallon per pound of pasta. The liquid is added gradually to the pasta, which absorbs it completely and thereby retains its starch. This makes the pasta creamy and rich; it also gains the flavor of the stock. You can use pretty much any pasta shape you like, but timing will vary depending on size. This approach may seem like more work than making pasta in the ordinary way. But as the making of the “sauce” is integrated into the pasta-cooking, it really becomes a one-dish meal — as interesting as risotto, and even a bit quicker. Here is a combination of gemelli with mushrooms and chicken to get you started.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2tablespoons olive oil, more as needed
  • 1shallot or small onion, chopped
  • 1tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2cups crimini, shiitake or button mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and sliced
  • ½pound cut pasta like gemelli or penne, or long pasta broken into bits
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • ½cup dry white wine or water
  • 3 to 4cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 2boneless chicken thighs, diced
  • Chopped fresh parsley, optional
  • Freshly grated Parmesan, optional
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

610 calories; 26 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 56 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 30 grams protein; 1063 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. When hot, add shallot, garlic and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms soften and begin to brown on edges, about 10 minutes. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is glossy and coated with oil, 2 to 3 minutes. Add a little salt and pepper, then wine. Stir and let liquid bubble away.

  2. Step 2

    Ladle stock into skillet ½ cup or so at a time, stirring after each addition and every minute or so. When liquid is just about evaporated, add more. Mixture should be neither soupy nor dry. Keep heat at medium and stir frequently.

  3. Step 3

    Begin tasting pasta 10 minutes after you add it; you want it to be tender but with a tiny bit of crunch. When pasta is about 3 to 4 minutes away from being done, add chicken and stir to combine. Continue to cook until chicken is done — it will be white on inside when cut — and pasta is how you like it. Taste, adjust seasoning, garnish with parsley and Parmesan if using, and serve.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
8,729 user ratings
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Comments

LDL

This was very good, but I agree with others that it needs additional spices. When I made it, I used 2 tsp dry thyme, 1 tsp dry oregano, 1/2 tsp dry marjoram, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and it turned out very well.

Also, instead of cooking the chicken as he directs, I used half a rotisserie chicken and threw in the meat about 2 minutes before the pasta was done. I also added a box of baby spinach shortly after I added the chicken, and I think that worked well.

Brady

Great recipe base with one MAJOR flaw. I've been making risotto for 20 years and not once in the history of risotto have I added raw meat at the end. I diced the chicken thigh pretty small and even so it took a good 15 minutes to get done. If you like purple, medium rare chicken prepare it per the recipe, otherwise do it like a risotto and cook the chicken first before adding it back at the end. Otherwise this is a great recipe and good jumping off point for future variations.

D

I make this recipe regularly, it's subtle and a welcome change from red-sauce pastas. Bittman's recipes are always "as you like it." I add some oregano and chili flakes with the garlic, and this time a bayleaf. It benefits from flavorful homemade broth. A squirt of lemon at the end with some parm, and maybe peas or sundried tomato to impart added color and flavor. I also used some dried mushrooms in the mix tonight and added the mushroom soaking water, gave it a nice depth.

Linda S.

This is, by far, my favorite NY Times chicken recipe. Since I didn't have shallots, I used a sweet onion and then added Penzey's shallot pepper to the mixture. I also seasoned the chicken with it. It's a bit labor intensive, with having to add the broth one ladle at a time, but it's well worth it.

Petey

I have made this. It's good! The recipe is deeply flawed however and simply can't be made as written. I recommend not adding the garlic at the beginning - you shouldn't cook garlic for such a long time because it burns quite quickly. That instruction caused me to doubt this recipe: not cooking garlic for a super long time is a very basic cooking thing. I also agree with the other comments that the chicken should go in FIRST to brown, then be removed, then added back in later, or it'll be raw.

JHK

Very good, but like many others, I felt it needed “kicking up” a notch. I had an incomplete basil pesto (Marcella Hazan’s food processor pesto recipe) without the addition of butter and used about 1/3 cup to this recipe just before sprinkling with the parm. Delicious. Will definitely make it again.

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