Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Chicken Pasta with Creamy Brie Sauce

I've been drooling over Presto Pasta Nights for so long now. Every week I get my fix, and this week I dare to join in...

I tried something new for dinner last night. I love creamy cheesy pasta sauces (I also love herby-tomatoey sauces, and simple olive oil, and rivers of vodka sauce…but we’ll focus on one addiction at a time). And last night, I wanted something other than parmesan or romano melted into my clog-your-arteries butter and cream creation. If I’m going to kill myself with fat content, I might as well do it with varying tastes of high fat content. Right?



Chicken Pasta with Brie Cream Sauce

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz pasta (I used penne)
2 Tbsp butter
1 green bell pepper, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Red pepper flakes
2 tsp Thyme
2 tsp Oregano
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup half and half
4 oz brie, rind cut off, cut as small as possible and divided
1 cup Italian bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cook pasta, drain and move to a large bowl.

Cook chicken completely and cut into cubes.

Add bell pepper strips and garlic to butter in the skillet and sauté for 5 minutes so they are crisp-tender. Stir in the red pepper, thyme and oregano and cook for another minute. Add it and the cubed chicken to pasta, making to sure to scrape the pan.

Add 2 Tbsp butter and chicken stock to skillet and melt; add cream and stir constantly until it starts to thicken. Add half of the brie and continue stirring. When the brie is melted and the sauce starts to thicken, turn off the heat and stir for another minute.


Pour sauce over the vegetables and pasta, and toss until everything is…well tossed.

Pour in a 2 quart casserole and top with bread crumbs and then the remaining brie. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the top starts making your mouth drool with it’s golden goodness.

Notes:
Next time, all of the brie is going in the sauce. It didn't melt very well on top.I used the same skillet for everything , and I didn't wipe it out between any of the steps, so that I could be sure and get all of the stuff that stuck to the pan when it was time to make the sauce.

The Professor claimed that this was too spicy, but as we all know by now, he's kind of a pansy when it comes to spicy foods (I love you honey!). It does have a little heat, so if you don't like that kind of thing, cut the red pepper flakes in half.

Be smarter than I was: remember to cut the rind off the brie before you start cutting it into itty bitty pieces.

I’m wondering how this would taste with smoked Gouda…???

9 comments:

test it comm said...

I like the idea of using brie cheese on pasta and the baked golden brown bread crumbs.

Anonymous said...

That looks heavenly!

Ruth Daniels said...

It does sound heavenly. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights. This one's a keeper!

Deborah said...

Kevein - the brie added some great flavor to the sauce; now I get to make some more, because I have half of the round left.

Thanks, Parsnip and Ruth - it made great leftovers for my lunch!

Anonymous said...

Oooooh! This sounds awesome and I love the picture! Cheesy sauces are the best.

I will have to try this one out - thanks!

Saved Sinner said...

Hi, I just found this post googling for brie/pasta recipes. This recipe sounds really nice but please could you tell me what "half and half is"? (I am English.)

Deborah said...

You could use either Single Cream, or Half Cream, depending on how much fat you want in your cream. The fat content of half and half is somewhere between those two.

Saved Sinner said...

Thanks.

Marco Buddha said...

great recipe. added caramelized onions and a little cooking sherry to deglaze before adding the cream.
turned out awesome.