Wholesome Wednesday: Fettuccine with Mushrooms, Ricotta and Riesling

Susie's love for mushrooms is legendary!  She'd happily eat them just pan fried if we'd let her.  :)  I knew when I recently came across a recipe from Nigella Lawson's Nigellisima cookbook that I could definitely punch up the mushroom content and make it more home cook friendly.  Cause lets face it, you can never have enough mushrooms.  :)

This is one of those recipes where you need to prep all your ingredients before you start.  Everything besides the pasta cooking goes extremely quickly.  Think making a stir fry quick.  Which makes it the perfect on the fly meal.

Here's our version of the recipe with things I always have on hand in my kitchen.

Fettuccine with Mushrooms, Ricotta and Riesling

1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup Riesling
1/2 cup water
1 cup ricotta cheese
freshly grated nutmeg
ground pepper
1 lb fettuccine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

In a small saucepan, place shiitake mushrooms, Riesling and water; bring to a boil.  As soon as it starts to boil, turn off the heat and leave the mushrooms to soak for 10 minutes.  Start your pasta water.

In a medium bowl combine ricotta cheese, nutmeg and pepper. When mushrooms are done soaking, drain mushroom water into ricotta mixture.  Make sure to squeeze mushrooms to remove the most liquid possible, whisk mixture.  Roughly chop mushrooms and set aside.

At the same time, melt the butter in a wok or a large non stick skillet.  Add the sliced mushrooms and start to cook.  When they release their liquid, add minced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds or until fragrant.  Add chopped shiitake mushrooms and saute a few minutes.  Add the ricotta mixture and heat till just bubbly.  Turn off heat and set aside.

Reserve a cup of pasta water when draining your pasta.  Add drained pasta to wok with ricotta mixture.  Sprinkle with half of the grated Parmesan cheese.  Toss, adding pasta water as needed.  Serve and garnish with extra Parmesan cheese.

Wholesome Wednesday: Sesame Chicken with Mushrooms

I don't think I need to mention it again, but I absolutely love one dish dinners!  Completely and totally.  There's just something about not having to make lots of different things when you're making a meal.  My love of one dish meals probably comes from having tuna noodle casserole a lot as a child.  Knowing me, I probably liked it because of the potato chips on the top.  

We love stir fry meals where you don't throw everything except the kitchen sink into them.  I've learned from experience, my mom's idea of stir fry, that you should focus on a few key ingredients.  Sesame chicken with mushrooms is a great example.  

This is something we've been eating more of recently, one dish dinners to go over rice.  This one was perfect because we had a multitude of mushrooms in the fridge.  The recipe wanted us to use snow peas as well, but we skipped that.  Instead, we topped ours with some sprouts (at least I did, someone doesn't like them).  I think that added a nice crunch and fresh taste.

Sesame Chicken with Mushrooms

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in strips
2 garlic cloves, minced        
1 tablespoon cornstarch            
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil                  
a dash red pepper flakes    
1/4 teaspoon sugar
3 teaspoons sesame seeds            
1/4 cup vegetable oil        
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons soy sauce              
1 tablespoon dry sherry
Handful of sprouts (optional)

In a medium bowl, combine chicken strips, garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper flakes.  Set aside.

In a large dry skillet over medium heat, toast sesame seeds until lightly browned.  Remove from pan and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, dry sherry, cornstarch, sesame oil and sugar.  Stir well.

In skillet, heat 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil over high heat.  Add chicken and cook for 3 minutes.  Remove from pan.

Lower heat to medium high and add remaining 2 Tbsp oil to pan.  add mushrooms and cook till starting to get tender and brown.  About 3 minutes.

Add chicken, sesame seeds and cooking sauce to the pan.  Cook over medium heat till sauce thickens.

Serve over rice and sprinkle with sprouts if desired.

Wholesome Wednesday: Chicken Tetrazzini - The light version :)

My great aunt Alice used to make chicken tetrazzini for us fairly often.  I never realized it was an adapted recipe from the Joy of Cooking from the May 2, 2001 Chicago Tribune until we asked about the recipe.  As we love everything in it (I mean what's not to love?  It has a creamy sauce, mushrooms, chicken and pasta baked till creamy.) this recipe is a staple in our household.  I'm actually surprised I haven't shared it with y'all before now.

It does make a large amount, about 8 servings, takes some time to prep and makes a ton of dishes.  But this recipe has a great taste and turns out practically perfect every single time.  Another thing I should mention, I'm pretty free and easy with the ingredients.  You really can't do a lot to mess up this recipe.  I've used margarine instead of butter, skim milk instead of half and half, extra spaghetti or extra veggies.  Whatever I happen to have in the fridge.  One thing I cannot stress enough is to taste the bechamel sauce before you mix in the mushrooms and pasta.  We like a lot more nutmeg than the recipe calls for.  Sometimes I almost grate an entire nutmeg into the sauce.  Definitely taste it before throwing it all together for the oven.

Tonight I added the rest of the spinach lingering in the fridge.  If you hadn't seen it you never would have known it was there.  Could not taste it at all.

Here the tetrazzini is ready for the oven with its freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Tetrazzini

5 tablespoons unsalted butter (I use margarine if that's what I have on hand)
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup flour
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 1/2 cups whole milk or half and half
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded into pieces
3 tablespoons white wine (optional)
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces spaghetti, cooked (I've been known to use 12 oz of veggie to use the whole box)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I grate it fresh on top, rarely use an entire 1/2 cup)

Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium high heat in medium skillet.  Add mushrooms; cook stirring often until tender, about 5 minutes.  Set aside.  If you were going to add spinach or kale, do it after the mushrooms release their liquid.  Add spinach to the pan and cook until wilted.  By then the mushrooms should be cooked through.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat in large saucepan.  Whisk in flour.  Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute.  Whisk in chicken broth.  Whisk in milk.  Heat mixture to simmer, whisking constantly until thick and smooth.  Cook 1 minute.  Stir in chicken and wine.  Cook 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir in nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in mushrooms and spaghetti.

This is what you'd call an action shot.  :)  I asked Susie to bring the camera as I wanted to take a photo before I baked and she started snapping them while I was grating.  As you can see my counter is cluttered with stuff.  That pile of newspaper in the back is a gorgeous french crystal trifle set I just got and can not wait to use.  :)

Pour mixture into a greased 9 by 13 inch baking pan.  Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.  Bake until sauce is bubbly and cheese is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Cream Sauce

I had a bunch of mushrooms on hand that I needed to use so I decided to give America's Test Kitchen Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Cream Sauce a try.  The recipe comes from their Pasta Revolution cookbook.  You'll probably see more recipes because we're a pasta loving house.  :)

I also substituted the mushrooms in the recipe for what I had on hand.  I used plain old button mushrooms, dried shittake mushrooms and vidalia onion.  Also substituted half and half for the heavy cream.  The only difference with using half and half is that I needed to cook it quite a bit longer to get the sauce to thicken.  We're talking 15-20 minutes longer, so do keep that in mind if you have a time constraint.

Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Cream Sauce

1 pound vacuum-packed gnocchi
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin
2 shallots, minced
1/4 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot.  Add gnocchi and 1 tablespoon salt and cook until gnocchi are just tender and floating, about 2 minutes.  Drain gnocchi.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add gnocchi and cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to plate.

3. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in now-empty skillet over medium heat.  Add cremini mushrooms, shallots, and porcini, cover, and cook until cremini mushrooms have released their liquid, about 4 minutes.  Uncover and continue to cook, stirring often, until cremini mushrooms are well browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

Look at all those yummy mushrooms!  :)

4. Stir in garlic, flour and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in broth, cream, and wine and simmer until sauce has thickened slightly and reduced to 2 cups, 8-10 minutes.

5. Fold in gnocchi and peas and cook until gnocchi are well coated and peas are heated through, about 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.