Chicken, Bacon, Mushroom & Crème Fraiche Pasta

I’m no expert on Italian cuisine but have been lead to believe that chicken with pasta is a no-no. I wonder if that’s true? Nonetheless, it’s a favourite combination of many pasta lovers, myself included.

One of the longest-standing fall-back dishes in the Pete & Kavey household is pasta with chicken, lardons or bacon, mushroom and crème fraiche.

It was inspired by the Norman combination of creme fraiche, lardons and mushrooms and it’s very quick and simple!

 

Chicken, Bacon, Mushroom, Crème Fraiche Pasta

Ingredients

Some dried pasta (amount as per your usual servings)
An onion (optional)
Lardons or some streaky bacon rashers, chopped into small pieces
Some chicken, chopped into bite-size pieces (I prefer thigh, Pete is a breast man)
Some mushrooms, chopped if large
Crème fraiche (or sour cream, if you prefer; do buy full fat versions, low fat will split)
White wine (about half a small glass) or a shot of Calvados liqueur (optional)
Vegetable oil for cooking

Note: As you can see, it’s a very loose recipe, you can juggle the amounts of everything. Sometimes we leave out the onion. Sometimes we leave out the chicken. Often we leave out the alcohol. We never leave out mushrooms, bacon or crème fraiche.

Method

  • Put pasta on to boil.
  • In a little cooking oil, add whichever you are using of onion, mushrooms, bacon and chicken in that order, cooking each for a time before adding the next.
  • Make sure the chicken is cooked through.
  • If using wine or calvados, add to a hot pan and allow the heat to cook off pretty much all of the liquid.
  • Stir in the creme fraiche and heat until it’s properly warmed through.
  • Drain pasta.
  • Serve sauce over pasta.

 
 
 

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11 Comments to "Chicken, Bacon, Mushroom & Crème Fraiche Pasta"

  1. Dom at Belleau Kitchen

    Kavey… there are NO rules for goodness sake… if you like it then it's good… and it looks damn good… so, onto business, i'm back in London next week and Tuesday or Wed nights are good for me… should we hook up at a bar/restaurant and review it as well as meet each other ( work and play) or do something foodie neither of us have ever done before? shall we research and get back to each other? x

    Reply
  2. Louise

    I'm not sure if it's a rule but if so I'm a rulebreaker too. This is a regular dish in the Sims household too and the creme fraiche is some times substituted by double cream – naughty but nice!!

    Reply
  3. linguina

    Ciao Kavey,

    You are right…i would say it's not really common to find pasta with chicken in Italy. I don't know why, but i think we prefer to eat them separately than together… However why not try?

    I will remember your recipe!

    Reply
  4. Kathleen

    Kavey, in my experience, chicken in Italy has been baked or grilled and pasta is served separately, as a side dish, OR in some bolognese sauces, whatever meat is available is put into the sauce. Just going by what I experienced in my student days in Firenze. Dishes like your recipe, however, have “global appeal”, IMO, so no fuss about “rules”. (Rules, bah, if you fancy it, cook it!) Cheers!

    Reply
  5. Kavey

    Well, you all probably know I'm not much bound by rules, hence this recipe being in our regular reportoire!

    Dom, email me, let's get a date in!

    Lisa, I don't think I encountered chicken and pasta on any of our trips but I do not pretend this is anything remotely authentic anyway! 🙂

    Louise, I love the tang of creme fraiche (or sour cream) over double cream though that's good too!

    Linguina, you'll have to let me know if you like it!

    Kathleen, that's what we've experienced in Italy too but yes, I'm very much of the opinion that if I like it, I'll do it!

    Rita, thanks! x

    Reply
  6. azélias kitchen

    Don't know if you remember Nigella Bites' program, when she was at her best for me….she had a recipe for chicken sauce with pasta…I believe she has Italian roots in her family if I remember correctly?

    Either way food involves as different cultures move in and make their own versions of recipes. I met a mini-cab driver the other day who was originally from Sri Lanka had lived in Italy for over 20yrs and now was in the UK for last 2yrs! His food repertoire was a mix hotpot!

    I couldn't even begin to tell how un-authentic my spag-bol is!! 🙂

    I prefer creme fraiche to double cream in sauces for the lovely tang it gives.

    Reply

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