A Hungry Bear

When I first purchased Jamie Oliver’s cookbook, Jamie’s Italy, I seriously considered making every recipe in the book. I’m not sure why I slowed down with that quest, since I picked it back up again the other day and found another 10 things I want to cook right away. This particular recipe is a great way to use up some leftover roast chicken (the original starts with uncooked chicken thighs) - almost everything else is from the pantry.

Adapted from Jamie’s Italy.

Ingredients: 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, 1 pound chicken (2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken, or 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs), 1 tablespoon butter, 2 cloves garlic, 4-6 ounces fresh crimini mushrooms, 3/4 cup white wine, 1/2 pound dried spaghetti, 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup grated parmesan cheese (plus more for serving), 1 sprig fresh basil leaves, olive oil, salt, pepper.

Slice the fresh mushrooms. Pour 2/3 cup boiling water over the dried porcini mushrooms in a bowl, and set aside.

Start a pot of water to boil and cook the spaghetti according to package directions. If it finishes before the sauce, drain it and toss with olive oil so the noodles won’t clump together.

If cooking chicken, cut into bite-size pieces, then cook in olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Since I adapted this to use already cooked rotisserie chicken (which I shredded), start by sauteing the fresh mushrooms in 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil. After they cook for a couple minutes, add the minced garlic and a sprinkle of salt and cook for another 2 minutes until the mushrooms release their juice.

After the porcinis have soaked and are cool enough to handle, transfer the mushrooms to a cutting board and reserve the soaking water. Roughly chop the porcini. Before you use the reserved soaking water, you need to strain it to remove any little bits of sand and dirt in the water. Pour it through a piece of cheesecloth to catch the debris instead of just dumping it into the pan.

Add the chopped porcini and the cooked chicken pieces to the pan. Pour in the white wine, and allow it to cook down for a couple minutes.

Add the strained porcini liquid to the pan.

When all the liquid in the pan has reduced by about half (3-4 minutes), add the heavy cream. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat.

Add the drained pasta, basil leaves (roughly chopped), and 2/3 cup of the grated parmesan. Stir until everything is combined and the pasta is coated with the creamy sauce. (I also sneaked in about 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese to add more protein to the dish, which didn’t change the texture in any noticeable way.)

Transfer everything into a large baking dish, then sprinkle with the remaining 1/3 cup of cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until the top is crunchy and golden brown and spots.

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a grating of fresh parmesan on top.