In America Italian food is almost as much a home grown national cuisine as any other. The large number of Italian immigrants brought all their wonderful recipes from Italy and over generations many of these have slow transformed into a sub culture of American cuisine. Many traditional Italian dishes have been worked into our daily lives to the point that we have almost taken ownership of them ourselves.
Don’t believe me did you know pizza is the only food in the telephone book (remember those) that has its own category. It is so much part of American culture that we have taken the wonderful recipes from all over Italy and transformed them into our own style of pizza and this has gotten to the point where even within the US there are distinct regional variations just like a Sicilian pizza is different from a Nepalese pizza so is a New York pizza distinctly different from a Chicago pizza.
In the restaurant business Italian food is among the most popular of all the ethnic cuisines second now only to maybe Chinese and Mexican. It is often said when going out let’s go for Italian food by many not that what they will encounter is anything short of what we Americans have made of traditional Italian fair. Just like food in a Chinese restaurant is highly Americanized so is Italian food. It does not make it right or wrong just what it is a blend of cultural influences that have melded together to just make great taste.
Summary:
This recipe is as visual appealing as it is great tasting it is so true Italian food delivers a visual appeal not always present in other cuisines.
Author:
Christine Szalay-Kudra
Cuisine:
Italian
Recipe type:
Pasta
Serves:
4
Prep time:
20 mins
Cook time:
20 mins
Total time:
40 mins
Ingredients
For the Fettuccine Pasta:
1 pound Fettuccine pasta
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, chopped into small pieces
For the Mushroom Walnut Sauce:
1 onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups button mushrooms, sliced
½ cup good white wine
? cup light cream
¼ cup water
½ cup Walnuts, toasted and chopped
¾ cup fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 package 1.8 oz Lipton® Recipe Secrets Onion Mushroom Soup
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Fettuccine Pasta:
Bring a stockpot of 3 quarts salted water to a rapid boil and add a few drops of oil. Place the fettuccine in the boiling water and cook until al dente per the package directions.
When al dente drain and place back in put to keep warm by just placing a lid on it do not apply heat.
For the Chicken:
Cut the chicken breast into small bite sized piece and in a skillet add a bit of olive oil and sear the meat until lightly brown all over, remove it from heat and toss it into the pot with the pasta and give a good stir.
For the Mushroom Walnut Sauce:
In a large skillet heat the oil and add the onion, and cook for five minutes until tender, then add the mushrooms and garlic and cook a few minutes more until mushrooms are slightly browned.
To this add the white wine, simmer for about a minute.
In a glass bowl blend together the soup mix, water and light cream and give it a quick whisk to blend thoroughly.
Add this to your skillet and bring to a gentle boil then turn heat down and add the rest of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste, simmer for a minutes and allow to slightly thicken.
Add this to the pot with the pasta and chicken and blend well.
Place on heat for a few moments just until heated through.
Remove it from heat and transfer to serving plates and top with a bit of fresh parsley and serve.
Notes
Lipton Recipe Secrets Recipe Soup & Dip Mix, Onion Mushroom 1.8 oz, (Pack of 6)
Photo Description:
This recipe is as visually appealing as it is good tasting. So many Italian dishes do this I cannot count them all. It seems Italian chefs have a way of making food just look so good it almost doesn’t matter what it taste like but that is not the case here as this recipe taste spectacular and is really rather easy to make. It is such a nice change to use chicken with pasta they really pair up nice and also to have an alternative to the standard marinara sauce we seem to gravitate to so often. If you are looking for a pasta dish that is extra special look no further.
