Chicken and Mushroom Penne in Cream Sauce – Gluten-free version

👨‍🍳 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 large pan over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
2. 5
   Add the onion and fry 5–8 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.
3. 6
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

1. 7
   Add the chicken breast cubes and fry, until browned on all sides.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
2. 8
   Add the mushrooms and red pepper and fry 5 minutes, stirring, until the mushrooms are golden.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
3. 9
   Add the cream and paprika and bring to a gentle boil. Turn down the heat and simmer 3 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. 10
   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. 11
   Serve immediately, with the Parmesan on top.