Creamy Chicken Alfredo Pasta

Today I am going to share a dinner recipe that will surely bring smiles to many faces in the dinner table, especially if they love pasta. Formally it’s named creamy chicken Alfredo Pasta. There is always an interesting story behind every food.

The name 'Alfredo' came from Alfredo di Lelio, who operated a restaurant in Rome, fancied up basic pasta with butter and cheese to serve something different and appealing to his wife who was suffering from morning sickness. He later served the same dish at his restaurant which became a great hit. In most of the restaurants in US, what you get by the name of Alfredo Pasta is not made by following original recipe. Actual Alfredo sauce didn't use cream; it is just made of butter, Parmesan and black pepper. But most of us know this dish for its cream-based form, which was a better customization of the original one.

I am not a big pasta fan, but my son is and he loves this dish like crazy. I would recommend you to make this dish with homemade Alfredo sauce. It makes huge difference in taste! Sometimes I add thawed frozen peas or roasted cherry tomatoes to it. You may use cooked shrimp or sausage in the place of roasted chicken. You can make it veg dish too, just skip the chicken part. The original Alfredo pasta recipe preferred fettuccine pasta but I used rotelle which I had in my pantry. It doesn’t make any difference. 

If you like your pasta with a crispy top, before placing in the oven spread some panko bread crumbs on the top; otherwise you can skip this stage. Cook the pasta and chicken, cover with sauce, sprinkle some grated cheese on top and put it in the oven. Wait for the cheese to bubble up. And a fabulous dinner is ready to serve! The full process takes less than 30 minutes. Thanks to Jamie cooks it up for the source of the recipe! 

Recipe of Creamy Chicken Alfredo : Serves  4

Ingredients :

Package Pasta : 8 ounce ( 1/2 of a 16 ounce packet ) around 250 g
Butter - 3 tbsp
Whipping cream - 2 cups
Whole milk - 1 cup
Parmesan Cheese ( grated )- 2 cups
Roasted Chicken : 2 and 1/2 cups 
Granulated Garlic - 1/8
Thyme - 1/2 tsp
Oregano - 1/2 tsp
Salt -
Pepper -
Mozzarella cheese (grated) - 1/2 cup
Panko Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup (optional)



Method :

1.For Roasted Chicken : Marinate the chicken breast pieces with salt, pepper and minced garlic and let it rest for an hour. Take a skillet, put 1 or 2 tbsp of butter and heat it up, then cook it over medium heat till it is soft and tender.

2. Boil some water, add salt and cook pasta as per package direction. Once it is done, strain the excess water and set it aside.

3. Take a large skillet, add 3 tbsp butter, melt it down over medium high heat. Add two cups whipping cream and 1 cup whole milk to it.

4.  Sprinkle two cups of shredded Parmesan cheese and stir it in with a nice whisk. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. The sauce will start to thicken.

5. Turn on your oven to the broil setting. Chop the roasted chicken into medium sized chunks. Add the chicken to the sauce, add the granulated garlic, thyme and oregano. Give it all a nice stir, check the seasoning, add salt and pepper to your liking. 

6. Let the sauce come to a simmer again and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes until the chicken becomes hot, get a nice coat and the sauce starts to thicken. 

7. Take a 4-Qt casserole or a deep (9 by 9 ) baking pan and grease with cooking spray. Place the cooked pasta into it then pour the sauce over the top.

8. Sprinkle the grated mozzarella cheese all over the top and if you like your pasta with a crispy top spread the bread crumbs over the top of the cheese. 

9. Once the oven is hot, put the dish inside and watch it carefully. When the cheese becomes bubbly and the bread crumbs get toasted remove the pan form the oven. It should take 4 to 5 minutes to be done. You should be very careful here, otherwise bread crumbs get burnt. Serve the pasta hot and enjoy!!

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