pasta - tomato, tarragon, wine, cream, chicken
t=teaspoon T=tablespoon
These recipes are for your personal use only and may not be added in any form to archives or other works.
Tagliatelli
with Chicken in Tomato, Tarragon and Wine Cream Sauce
Succulent chicken pieces cooked briefly in a tomato-wine sauce with a delicate
note of tarragon and splash of cream rest on a nest of tagliatelli tossed in the
same sauce.
serves 4
2 small chicken breasts cut in bite-size pieces
1 k. ripe tomatoes (or 800 g. tin of whole or chopped tomatoes)
1 medium red onion or other mild onion
2 garlic clove
2 T. olive oil
2 t. fresh tarragon (or 3/4 t. dried)
100 ml. dry white or rosé wine
80 ml. cream
salt, pepper, sugar
500 g. tagliatelli or other pasta
Mince the onion and sauté several minutes in the oil. Do not allow to brown. Add the minced garlic and cook carefully until transparent for several minutes. Add the wine and continue to cook for several minutes.
If using fresh tomatoes, remove the skin and stem end. Use only the meat of the tomato and discard the juice and seeds. Chop and add to onions with a good grating of pepper and a good pinch of sugar. Stir in half of the tarragon and allow to simmer covered for 10 minutes.
Strain and puree the onion/garlic with enough of the liquid to make a thin paste. Add back to the rest of the liquid and allow to reduce for several minutes*. Add the chicken and continue to cook covered for 6-8 minutes (add the rest of the dried tarragon now if using).
In the meantime, cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions.
Lift out the chicken with a slotted spoon and keep warm. To the remaining sauce, add the cream, a good pinch of salt and stir well allowing to very gently simmer for a minute.
Drain the pasta well, toss with the sauce and the rest of the fresh tarragon. Allow to rest covered a few minutes for the pasta to absorb some of the sauce.
Make a nest** of the pasta and place some of the chicken on top. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
*Note: Why not puree the sauce and ingredients together? You do not want a frothy, homogenous mass. Pureeing the onion/garlic with a little of the liquid and then adding back will make a smooth sauce with some texture.
**Pasta Nests: using a fork with long tines held parallel over the pan or pot, gather up some of the pasta. 'Aim' the pasta on the plate and now holding the tines down, twirl to form a nest. A little practice will show you how much to take up at a time to make a larger or smaller nest. This technique of presentation is especially lovely when serving two or three different pasta such as spaghetti or tagliatelli on the same plate (ie: one in pesto sauce, on in a tomato and another in a cream and cheese sauce - tricolori!) For a single, large serving use a chef's three pronged fork or place an amount on a plate using a pasta ladle (has 'fingers around the edge) THEN using a fork, twirl a nest.
Serve
with an appetizer of mixed green salad or assortment of salad vegetables on a
platter for your guests to make their own salad. A side dish of mixed
vegetables tossed with a splash of cream and grated Parmesan cheese and a
chilled rosé or light red wine goes well with this.
All recipes are excerpts from "Welcome to My Kitchen" - The Epicurean Table and are copyright of the author. Recipes are not to be
added to any form of archive or other works of any kind. Contact the author for further information.
The Epicurean Table © 2003 Patricia Conant