I made this dish from Jamie Oliver’s Italy a couple of weeks back & have hesitated in posting it. Frankly it was quite average, a bit on the oily side & not up to the standard that I expect from his recipes. It was still ok but nothing special. I don’t know if I did something wrong or not so would love to hear of anyone else out there who has also tried this one out & what they thought of it. Pretty much the only real difference between mine & the recipe below was that I omitted the porcini having none handy.
Spaghetti Tetrazzini (Chicken & Mushroom Pasta Bake)
20g/a small handful of dried porcini mushrooms
Olive Oil
4 Chicken Thighs, boned, skinned & cut into bite sized pieces (I bought thigh fillets)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely sliced
350g handfuls mixed mushrooms, cleaned & torn
200ml white wine
455g Spaghetti
500ml double cream
200g parmesan cheese grated
a sprig of fresh basil, leaves picked
Preheat oven to 200c. Put your porcini in a bowl & pur over just enough boiling water to cover them. Put to one side to soak for a few minutes. Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all ingredients, and pour in a splash of olive oil. Season the chicken with salt & pepper & brown gently in the oil. Strain the porcini, reserving the soaking water, and add them to the pan with the garlic & fresh mushrooms. Add the wine, with the strained porcini water & turn the heat down. Simmer gently until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the wine has reduced a little.
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water according to packet instructions & drain well. Add the cream to the chicken, then bring to the boil & turn the heat off. Season well with salt & freshly ground black pepper. Add the drained spaghetti to the creamy chicken sauce & toss well. Add ¾ of the parmesan and the basil & stir well. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish, sprinkle with half the remaining cheese & bake in the oven until golden brown, bubbling & crisp. Divide between your plates & sprinkle with the rest of the cheese before serving.
I'm not surprised it was a bit oily with half a litre of double cream in there along with a fair bit o' cheese, the whole thing sounded very rich. Maybe a thinned dowm bechamel sauce would make it a bit lighter?
ReplyDeleteI would definitely recommend the porcini because it boosts the flavour beautifully, but I have also found this recipe a little bit oily. Next time I'm using a thinner cream and less cheese, or possibly a bechamel sauce, as neil said. I also found a little salt kicked up the flavour nicely.
ReplyDeleteYeah I'd say it was the porcini that made the difference. Its got a strong flavour and without it im not surprised it was a but bland. I've made this recipe and really liked it. I used less than the recommedned amount of cream cos that sounded way too much to me.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, It was so lovely....... Yes the porcini mushrooms are very important indeed as adds to the flavour otherwise I imagine it was bland as well as good Parmesan cheese
ReplyDeleteand mine wasn't oily at all. Rich yes but not oily