Friday, September 18, 2009

Heaven on a Plate

Yeah, baby! This dish rocked my world - and I totally whipped it out of my ass after being inspired by this dish made my MonicaJane of Yes, We Cook, and sort of by Nigella's so-so pasta dish I made a while back. This was so easy to make it wasn't funny, and it made a ton of left-overs so I didn't have to cook for a few nights. And it was spectacular - SPECTACULAR, I tell you!

Penne with Chicken, Mushrooms, Thyme, Lemon, and Goat's Cheese

500g penne (1lb package)
140g package goat's cheese (not feta; soft, unripened goat's cheese)
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp dried thyme
zest of 1 lemon + juice of 1/2 lemon
3 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
salt & pepper

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. While the pasta cooks, saute the chicken until cooked through. Remove from pan, leaving any accumulated juices. Add mushrooms & thyme & saute until mushrooms have cooked down. Return chicken to pan, add garlic, and stir. Keep warm until pasta is cooked.

3. Drain pasta & return to pot. Add chicken & mushrooms, lemon zest & juice, and add the package of goats cheese. Stir together; the cheese will get all melty and create a "sauce". Season with salt & pepper to taste.I can't tell you how good this was! I am really enjoying cooking with chicken thighs, too; I didn't think I would, but I am rethinking my opinion of them. They certainly are WAY more affordable than breasts, I can tell you that. I would like to have used more exotic mushrooms (MonicaJane's recipe uses shiitake, which would have been great) but I only had a choice between regular white mushrooms, brown mushrooms, and portobellos, but the portobellos were way too expensive for my budget. So, I used white mushrooms (the browns weren't very fresh-looking).

A great meal! Thanks for the inspiration, MonicaJane!

11 comments:

Donna-FFW said...

Sounds like a most fantastic meal. Love the combo and one dish meals are my fave!

Palidor said...

That does look delicious, and having leftovers is also good! I'm glad you are enjoying chicken thighs. Dark meat rules!! :)

Heather S-G said...

That goat cheese looks all melty and delicious...yummmmmmmmm!

NKP said...

Mmm, what a great combination of flavours.

Tina said...

I was just on about goat cheese on Cathy's blog. That looks great...another one for my Coyote file!

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

You had me at goat cheese...

Cathy said...

Like A Year on the Grill - you had me at goat cheese :) This is going into the rotation for after holidays.

Bob said...

Swap out the mushrooms for something else and I'm all over it. ;)

monicajane said...

mmmm...yummy and your final dish looks so much nicer than mine..

I like plain old ordinary mushrooms...they do fine...

I made a killer chicken piccata with the same meat...it's on the blog now...

I'm having a great time with dark chicken and will never go back to breast.

Reeni said...

This looks incredibly delicious!!! Creamy and so comforting!

Unknown said...

Holy crap that does sound good! Got this baby saved and will be trying it soon. I love me some goat cheese! I used to hate dark meat chicken, but I've come around, too. I'd almost rather have it than white.

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