CHICKEN TETRAZZINI

There are few baked pasta dishes that I like and I love this one! The cream and milk combined with the nutmeg to make a bechamel is so delicious and the added spices are wonderful! It seems like a lot of ingredients but you only have to chop 5 of them!

Ingredients:

4 tbl olive oil

12 tbl unsalted butter

4 boneless chicken breasts

1 lb white mushrooms, sliced

1 sweet onion chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup Italian parsley chopped

3/4 cup frozen peas

1 tbl fresh thyme chopped

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup flour

4 cups whole milk, warm

1 cup heavy whipping cream, room temp

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup italian breadcrumbs

salt

pepper

1 lb linguine

1/4 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Grease a 13 x 9 pan with 2 tbl butter. In a saute pan melt 2 tbl butter and 2 tbl oil. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook until golden on both sides about 4 minutes per side. Let cool on a plate and shred into a bowl.

In the same pan melt 2 tbl butter and 2 tbl oil. Add the mushrooms and cook over medium-high heat about 12 minutes. Add the onion, garlic and thyme and saute about 8 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the wine and simmer until it mostly evaporates - a couple minutes. Transfer this mixture to the bowl with the chicken.

Melt 3 tbl of butter in the same pan over medium-low heat and add flour. Whisk for about two minutes until the flour is incorporated. Whisk in milk, cream, broth, nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Increase heat to high and cook uncovered until the sauce thickens - about 10 minutes..stir often.

Cook linguine according to package directions, but not completely about 8 minutes and drain. Combine the linguine with the sauce, chicken mixture, peas and parsley. Pour into the baking dish. Combine cheese and breadcrumbs and sprinkle on top. Dot with remaining 3 tbl of butter and bake until golden and bubbly - about 25 minutes. Let cool a few minutes and dot with slivered almonds.

Serve with a nice glass of Chardonnay!

ENJOY!