Easy pasta recipes are always great on a busy night, and my kids will always eat pasta for dinner. This pasta recipe includes a ton of mushrooms, plus some balsamic-marinated chicken (for extra protein.) If you have too many extra mushrooms to use up, this easy pasta recipe comes together in about 30 minutes.
Important note about dried mushrooms: You really should try to find dried porcini mushrooms, because they are more flavorful and mushroom-y umami than dried shiitake mushrooms. I only had dried shiitakes in my pantry, so that’s what I used. My dinner was fine with shiitakes, but if I could do it over, I’d go out and find some dried porcini mushrooms somewhere. I don’t think shiitake mushrooms are mushroom-y enough.
Important note about chicken: Your chicken will turn black on the outside, because balsamic vinegar contains sugar that will carbonize. This is okay, don’t worry about it!
Rigatoni With Mushrooms & Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound uncooked chicken breast
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup boiling water
- 8 ounces uncooked rigatoni (any large pasta will do)
- ½ tablespoon butter
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- ½ cup chopped yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- ¼ cup dry red wine
- 1½ tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary (or ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Make a chicken marinade by stirring together 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 2 cloves of minced garlic.
- Remove all visible fat from the chicken breast and cut it into several large pieces. Add the chicken to the marinade, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to marinate for about 30 minutes, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Boil a big pot of water for pasta-cooking
- Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl.
- Remove about 1 cup of the boiling pasta water with a ladle and pour it over the dried mushrooms in the bowl. Let the mushrooms sit to soften up while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions.
- Heat ½ tablespoon of butter and ½ tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.
- Cook the chopped onions and sliced mushrooms in the butter/olive oil mixture. Cook the onions and mushrooms over medium heat for about 3 minutes, until they start to soften.
- Add the 2 minced garlic cloves and cook for another 1 minute until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add ¼ cup dry red wine to the onion/mushroom/garlic mixture, and cook for about 3 minutes, until the wine has mostly evaporated.
- Add ½ cup chicken stock, 1½ tablespoons tomato paste, the dried mushrooms, 1 cup of dried-mushroom soaking water, chopped rosemary and ground black pepper to the saucepan. Stir the ingredients around to mix them, then turn the heat up to medium-high until the mixture begins to boil. Then, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-high heat and give it a light spray with nonstick spray. Cook the chicken in the hot pan for about 4 minutes per side, or until a thermometer registers an internal temperature of 165 °F. You might want to put the lid on the skillet to encourage the chicken to cook faster. The sugar in the balsamic vinegar will carbonize and turn black (pour a cup of water into the skillet while it's still hot to clean the black gunk off before washing.)
- Set the chicken on a plate to cool and rest for about 3 to 5 minutes before cutting into cubes or slices.
- Add ¼ teaspoon of salt right to the sauce right at the very end, just before serving.
- Mix the mushroom sauce and the drained pasta together. Spoon into serving dishes, and arrange the chicken pieces on top.
