Chicken and Mushroom Penne Pasta

Chicken and Mushroom Penne Pasta is one of those dishes that’s special enough for company and easy enough for a weeknight family dinner. You can put all sorts of things into one of these dishes, but I like to really savor a few simple ingredients instead of throwing the kitchen sink at it.

I made the batch pictured here with the smaller measure of sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms, but I like it even better with the double amounts. If you use the larger amounts, do throw in an extra splash of brandy.

So many creamy pasta recipes call for huge amounts of butter, cream and cheese – but you can get delicious results with far less. In fact, my recipe is made without any butter and cream at all and just a small amount of cheese.

Sometimes I prefer just enough sauce to coat each bite of chicken and mushroom and each piece of pasta, as shown here. Other times I like to have more sauce, so I splash in the cream. It's very flexible.

I think the dish is best with a ridged (rigate) tube pasta. Penne was my favorite until I met mini penne a few years ago. But either will do. Of course, it’s delightful with a red meat sauce, but I do love a creamy chicken pasta.

Chicken and Mushroom Penne Pasta

(Makes 4 to 6 servings)

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 small (4 ounces/113 grams) yellow onion, finely sliced
1/4 to 1/2 firmly packed cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely sliced and microwaved for 15 seconds with 1 or 2 tablespoons water
1/2 to 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, divided
1 1/2 pounds (24 ounces/680 grams) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
3 tablespoons brandy
1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces/118 ml) milk
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour shaken with 1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan, more to sprinkle over plated pasta
3/4 pound (12 ounces/340 grams) mini penne pasta
Reserved pasta water

1 In 5-quart pan, bring 3 quarts of water with 1/2 tablespoon of salt to a full boil. While it’s heating up, make sauce. You will add the pasta to the boiling water about the same time you start cooking the chicken. But if the water is not up to a rapid boil by then, the sauce can sit quite happily.

2 In 12-inch straight-sided* skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and saute the onion while you slice and hydrate the sun-dried tomatoes and slice the mushrooms.

* If your 12-inch skillet is not straight-sided, you’ll need to cook the chicken in two batches. So if you have a straight-sided one, use it.

3 Add the tomatoes to the skillet and cook for about a minute until the liquid evaporates, then add another tablespoon of oil, mushrooms and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook over high enough heat to make the mushrooms sizzle, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are done, about 6 to 10 minutes. Remove vegetables to a bowl.

4 Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and cook the chicken, seasoned with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper, over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned and cooked through. Deglaze the pan by stirring in the brandy and scraping up any browned bits. Add the milk and the slurry of flour and water, cooking and stirring until thickened. Stir in the basil, thyme, red pepper and Parmesan.

5 Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta water in case your sauce needs thinning. Stir the drained pasta into the sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning.