italianese chicken pasta
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After years at an ad agency with an Italian restaurant as a client, I thought it was impasta-ble to come up with another funky word. Not so. This dish was going to be dubbed HaPasta (Hapa Pasta), but Italianese just breezes through so much more smoothly.
The ingredients are so all over, it had the potential for disaster, but even the leftovers were scooped up and taken to work. I had one serving at dinner.
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Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise, brush with oil and roast or grill until just cooked. While the eggplant cooks, start the water for the linguine and swirl a bit of canola oil into a separate pan. Toss in the chicken and brown it.
Cool cooked eggplants to touch and slice thinly into half-moons, i.e., not lengthwise. Add the eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms to the chicken. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Add shoyu, sriracha and hoisin and then pour in the carton of half-n-half.
At this point, the pasta water will be boiling, so toss the linguine in. 8-9 minutes for al dente. While the pasta cooks, reduce the sauce only a little, and be advised that the reduction happens faster than finishing the pasta.
Drain pasta and then dump it into the pan and toss. Coat evenly. The pasta will absorb some of the sauce. Eat warm. Makes for good, but not so pretty leftovers.
Cool cooked eggplants to touch and slice thinly into half-moons, i.e., not lengthwise. Add the eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms to the chicken. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Add shoyu, sriracha and hoisin and then pour in the carton of half-n-half.
At this point, the pasta water will be boiling, so toss the linguine in. 8-9 minutes for al dente. While the pasta cooks, reduce the sauce only a little, and be advised that the reduction happens faster than finishing the pasta.
Drain pasta and then dump it into the pan and toss. Coat evenly. The pasta will absorb some of the sauce. Eat warm. Makes for good, but not so pretty leftovers.
NOTES:
1. The original recipe used peanut oil, chicken breasts, heavy cream and shiso. I swapped canola oil, thighs, half-n-half and omitted the shiso entirely.
2. I standardized to 1 box of pasta rather than the original 3/4 pound of cooked pasta
3. Do not swap oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes for the dried one. Too much grease.
1. The original recipe used peanut oil, chicken breasts, heavy cream and shiso. I swapped canola oil, thighs, half-n-half and omitted the shiso entirely.
2. I standardized to 1 box of pasta rather than the original 3/4 pound of cooked pasta
3. Do not swap oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes for the dried one. Too much grease.