chardonnay chicken pasta

so, nick and i love the restaurant BJ's Brew House. it is across the street from my salon and we meet there a lot for dinner if i'm getting off late. they brew their own beer and they have great food. (like the flippin' fork and knife sandwiches?? omgz)
on tuesdays they have half off wine and tuesdays are my mondays - so i normally want to eat myself into a comatose and drink $4 glasses of kendall jackson. they have their chardonnay shrimp pasta and it is to die for. see, look at its to dieforness:

notice the bacon. yeah, bacon makes everything glorious.

so the other night, i make shifted my way through what i thought was the recipe. i subbed chicken for shrimp, so nick would eat it. here i go:







INGREDIENTS
1 lb penne, rotella, or other pasta
3-4 boneless chicken breasts (or a rotisserie chicken from the store shredded)
1 roasted red bell pepper (i get the jarred kind. same thing without the risk catching a pepper on fire)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-8 oz chopped pancetta or bacon (i didnt use bacon, i didnt feel like making it. lazy, i know.)
1/3 cup choped fresh basil
2 roma tomatoes, seeds removed and coarsly chopped
4 oz julienned sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup chardonnay
1 cup cream
1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
1/2 cop chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

start a large pot of salted water boiling. when it boils add the pasta. whats that? oh you know, boiling over while im cooking the pasta. a normal occurrence in my kitchen.

then, in a saute pan over medium-high heat, if you wanted it, brown the bacon . remove it from the pan and set it aside.

a little trick to chopping fresh herbs, is to roll them up really really tight and slice them that way. i learned that from rachel ray. normally i hate her, but i learned that and also, a co worker of nicks did sound at a concert at SXSW in austin and she was there - and apparently she was cussing like a sailor - so i like her.

btw, dont judge my crappy manicure.

while you're preparing your ingredients (chopping and what not), salt and pepper the chicken breasts and bake them at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes. line the pan with foil and fill the bttom with water or chicken broth so the chicken doesnt dry out. (thanks mom!) when done, cool and chop. yum, chicken carcass:

add a little olive oil to the pan if necessary. when it's hot add the garlic. when you can start to smell the garlic add the onions. saute the onions until translucent. add the chopped & roasted red pepper. saute for a couple of minutes, then add the roma and sun-dried tomatoes. saute for 2 minutes. add the chopped chicken and basil.


the pasta should be done about now. drain and rinse it, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water. place the pasta in a large bowl. add the reserved pasta water. add the mixture from the saute pan.

deglaze the pan with the chardonnay. *sigh* guess i wont be drinking that.

reduce to about a tablespoon. (meaning, simmer it until there's about a tablespoon of the wine left, like magic!)

add the cream. reduce by half. add to the pasta mixture and the cheese and toss to coat. add the parsley and serve.


serves four!

 it was pretty good. not AS flavorful and creamy as the restaurant. not sure why. i tried doubling the cream before - just made it soupier.

lovers, go to bjs - have a few glasses of half off KJ, and let me know what i'm missing.