Directions
Pancetta, Chicken And Mushroom Tagliatelle
Chicken and pasta, 2 big favourite all over the world. Bring them together and you create one delicious dinner that everybody will love. No more fussing over what to put on the table, it’s so easy.
Now, most of my chicken dishes are either whole chicken parts, or diced chicken breasts. Ground chicken is not too often mentioned on my blog, altough I do cook with ground turkey often. But lean ground chicken breast, apart from being so easy to cook with, it’s also a good choice if you are looking for lighter dishes.
I decided to make this pasta dinner extra special by adding mushrooms and pancetta to the sauce, and the combo was pure delish. Absolutely amazing! You get a rich sauce that screams perfection, and toss it over the perfectly cooked tagliatelle. What’s not to love about it?
If you don’t have ground chicken, you can use diced chicken breasts without any problem, the taste won’t be masively different, it’s just a matter of different texture.
HOW DO YOU MAKE THE PANCETTA, CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM SAUCE?
Start by making the sauce first, since it takes longer to cook. The tagliatelle is ready in about 10-12 minutes or so, you can boil them just before the sauce is ready.
- sautee the onion and garlic, then add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes until nicely brown
Mushrooms release quite a big of liquid, so there is no need to add any water to them. Just leave them to cook well, the darker the colour, the better taste.
- add the pancetta, and give it a good stir, and leave to cook for a few minutes until the pancetta is crispy
At this stage there is so much flavour already. As you know, I don’t cook with alcohol, but if you don’t mind it, you can add a splash of white wine, and leave to cook until it evaporates.
- now, the ground chicken can be added too
Continue to stir until you break the ground chicken into small pieces, and no longer pink.
- add the chopped tomatoes, chicken broth, herbs and spices, and tomato puree, and leave to cook until the sauce is reduced.
- cook the tagliatelle separately, drain, and toss into the sauce
And that’s our dinner done!
Ingredients
- 200 g pancetta
- 2 cups closed-cup mushrooms
- 250 g ground chicken
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1/2 cup chicken stock (broth)
- 1 tsp Italian herbs
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/4 packet of tagliatelle
- Heat up the oil in a pan, add the butter and allow it to melt.
- Chop the onion and garlic, and add them to the pan.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes until the onion has soften, then add the sliced mushrooms, and leave to cook for 4-5 minutes until nicely browned, and all the liquid released.
- Add the pancetta, give it a good stir, and leave to cook until crispy.
- The ground chicken can now be added too, just give it a good stir until the meat is no longer pink.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, chicken broth, seasoning, and leave to cook with the lid on until the sauce is reduced.
- Meanwhile, cook the tagliatelle according to the packet instructions.
- When ready, drain the water, then add it to the pan with the sauce.
- Garnish with freshly-chopped parsley.
Recipe by Chef: Daniella