Pasta in Cream and Chicken Sauce

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Cooked pasta

1. 1
   Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente.

   ⚙ Cooking in salted waterStovePot

   💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
2. 2
   Reserve cup of the cooking water before draining.

   ⚙ Saving the cooking waterLadleorMeasuring cup

   💡The cooking water is starchy: a spoonful or two binds the sauce to the pasta or the gnocchi and makes it glossy.
3. 3
   Drain.

   Colander

For the Fried onion

1. 4
   Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
2. 5
   Add the onion and fry 3 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.

To assemble

1. 6
   Add the chicken breast strips and fry, until browned on all sides.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
2. 7
   Add the garlic and fry 1 minute, until fragrant.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
3. 8
   Add the cream, oregano and basil and bring to a gentle boil. Turn down the heat and simmer 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡Reduce cream at a gentle bubble, not a hard boil: a few minutes is enough for it to thicken, and loosen a sauce that got too thick with a spoonful of pasta water.

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
4. 9
   Add the drained pasta and a little of the cooking water, season with salt and black pepper and toss for about a minute over low heat, until the sauce clings to the pasta.

   Stove
5. 10
   Serve immediately, with the Parmesan on top.