When your looking for a hearty Amatriciana pasta dish, this one should come to mind. A twist on the basic original, this recipe adds quite a bit of substance to what is normally a very simple dish.
Packed with bacon, chicken, peppers and chilies the taste combination is so satisfying. Flavours come together when enveloped with the fresh Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce.
Do not be afraid of the heat in this dish. It is meant to have a bite without being overpowering.
Serve this dish with a glass of Red Sangiovese.
Creamy Pasta Amatriciana
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Ingredients
Like any great pasta dish, your first step is to gather all of the ingredients. Once you start the cooking process everything goes together quickly so having your “mise en place” is the best solution.
Julienne the following:
- 1 red pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 green pepper
Dice the following:
- 1 cup of Shiitake mushrooms
- 6 strips of well cooked bacon
- 2 cooked boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup of baby garden tomatoes
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 4 green onions
Gather:
- Hot pepper flakes
- 28 oz can whole tomato with their juices
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup vodka
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 1 package of Linguini noodles
Instructions
Sauce:
- In a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over a medium heat setting.
- Add the onion and cook until the onion has softened and begins to become translucent.
- Add the vodka and the garlic stirring until all of the liquid has been evaporated.
- Add the whole tomatoes with their juice, as well as a pinch of salt, a hearty dash of pepper, and about 1/2 a tsp of hot pepper flakes.
- Let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile…..
Pasta:
- Boil some heavily salted water.
- Add the pasta noodles and cook as directed on the package.
- When done, strain the pasta noodles however, do NOT rinse them. We want that starch to remain.
Pulling it all together:
- Using a food processor puree the tomato sauce until smooth. Set aside.
- Add your peppers to the pan/dutch oven with a splash of olive oil and cook for two minutes until they begin to soften. Toss in your mushrooms and your green onions cooking for another 2 minutes.
- Add your bacon and chicken breasts and heat for about 1 minute.
- Pour your pureed sauce over the bacon and chicken.
- Heat over medium heat until warmed up.
- Add the whipping cream and mix. Do not let this boil as cream will curdle.
- Once it is warm, add the noodles.
- Toss the noodles in the sauce until completely covered.
- Divide equally among 4 pasta bowls and serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and extra hot pepper flakes on the side.
Notes
Garnish with fresh parsley and Parmesan Cheese.
