There’s nothing I love more than a quiet night in with my man, who came up with the title of this blog post, enjoying a good movie, a glass of wine, charcuterie and some fettuccine. This recipe is PERFECT for a group dinner party or for a nice romantic dinner with your special someone. I actually am going to be making this Christmas Eve at my parents and super excited to share with them.
First things first when it comes to making pasta and that’s the pre-pasta Charcuterie. One of my FAVORITE things in the world and to make that happen you want to make sure you have an array of meats & cheeses that will please all your guests. I always like to have at least 3-5 different cheeses and meats on my cheese board and an assortment of fruits, nuts and crackers to create multiple flavors that will suit any palette. Kalamata olives are also a must for me. I LOVE olives. If you’re not sure what sort of cheeses or meats to create a charcuterie board have no fear. I’m listing what I’ve got here so you have something to go off of. As you get more aquatinted with creating a cheese board I encourage you to try new flavors and mix new things into your boards. So here we go.
Cheeses:
1) Extra Sharp Cheddar
2) Cranberry, orange and cinnamon coated goat cheese
3) Gouda
Meats:
1) Prosciutto
2) Capocollo
3) Salami
When it comes to wine you’ll want to keep it pretty simple since your board is going to consist of fats and salts. I tend to stick with a good Cabernet or Pinot Noir. You can also pair with a good glass of champagne because nothing goes better with fats than a nice glass of bubbly.
For presentation…I will usually plate my cheeses and meats first and fill around with crackers, mixed nuts, olives and fruits. You can arrange however you like. Have fun with it.
You can’t have pasta without fresh bread. I like to get a French baguette, slice it up, lather it with a butter/garlic combo. Top with some rosemary and bake till golden brown. The perfect addition to your pasta dish or on a rainy day when you’re sad and want to eat ALL the carbs.
For the pasta I start with shredding chicken. Now the secret here is you want to get a rotisserie chicken from your local grocery store. The reason I use this is because it’s perfectly seasoned and the juices from the chicken and skin make the pasta taste AMAZING. Place skin into a bowl and set aside and shred your chicken in another bowl.
Chop about 5-6 cloves of garlic. I love garlic so the more the better for me. You can add more or less depending on your taste but for a general recipe about 5-6 will do the trick.
In a skillet put about 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a pan along with the skin from your rotisserie chicken. let the juices and fats from the skin heat up in the skillet along with the butter till it starts to sizzle. roughly leave in about 5 min or so. Take the skin out leaving your juicy buttery mixture behind. Add your minced garlic and cook till the garlic is slightly browned.
Now for my favorite part. Add an 8 oz. carton of heavy whipping cream into your pan with the butter and garlic. Keep stirring with a whisk till mixed well together and let simmer for roughly 2-3 min. While that’s simmering, you’ll want to take your shredded parmesan cheese and slowly start to incorporate into your cream mixture.
Stirring constantly with the whisk, keep adding the cheese till you’ve emptied the whole bag into your cream sauce. Now you’ll add your Italian seasoning (1-2 tablespoons). Stir till thickened and add your shredded chicken to the mixture and stir till well coated. turn on low heat and wait till your pasta is cooked/drained and ready to be topped.
In a large pot bring salted water to a boil. You will want roughly 4 quarts of water per pound of noodles. I also add a little EVOO to my pot for added flavor. Most pastas cook in roughly 8-12 minutes but you can test by tasting. drain your noodles and relocated back into the pot. Toss in a little more EVOO to keep noodles from sticking together.
Plate your noodles and alfredo sauce with toasted baguette on the side. Pour a tall glass of wine and enjoy. I will say Cameron is not a huge fan of pasta and he went back for seconds and thirds so you’re going to like it. haha!
Here is a full list of ingredients for this pasta dish. Just follow the instructions from above and you’re golden.
1 Seasoned rotisserie chicken shredded but keep skin for skillet and seasoning butter
2-3 Tablespoons of butter
1 8oz. carton of heavy whipping cream
6 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
2-3 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
1 6oz. package of shredded parmesan cheese or more depending on taste
1 package of fettuccine noodles
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 French Baguette
A hefty appetites :)
Bon Appetite!
–StayFoxx
