Recipe: Fettucine with marsala chicken sauce.
About a decade or so back, I stumbled over an author named Michaele Roessner. As far as I know, she only published three books... but all of them I found fantastically good. The latter two were mystical Renaissance period dramas, set in Italy around the time Caterina De'Medici was growing up: The Stars Dispose and The Stars Compel.
The thing is, Roessner did an enormous amount of research and background -- including, as it turned out, a substantial number of included recipes (since her primary protagonist is a cook's apprentice). I had always wanted, at the time, to try out some of the recipes. Back then, though, I was nowhere near as financially able or culinarily inclined as to actually try my hand at them.
I picked up my copy of The Stars Dispose last week and have been devouring it ever since -- and, having finished it, I rediscovered the recipes at the back of the book. The original recipe is "Pappardelle with Rabbit Sauce", but lacking rabbit and having no desire to make pasta from scratch (no pasta maker), I improvised.
Thus, Fettucine with Marsala Chicken Sauce
Ingredients:
Sauce:
* 1 1/4 lbs. chicken, cut in pieces
* 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 2 oz. prosciutto, chopped (I diced up three slices of bacon instead)
* 2 small yellow onions, chopped
* 2 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped
* 1/3 cup rich beef stock (alternatively, use 1/3 cup rabbit's blood *grin* )
* 2 carrots, chopped (I ended up using about a dozen or so baby carrots, chopped up)
* 1 tablespoon white flour
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (a pinch, basically)
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (alternatively, 1 whole clove)
* salt and pepper to taste (I used half a teaspoon of each, just as a test)
* 1 1/4 cups marsala cooking wine (the original recipe recommends the same quantity of red wine, but I had some marsala left over)
Pasta:
* technically, any pasta will do -- but I first prepared this with 1/2 lb of fettucine.
Method:
1. Warm olive oil in a heavy pot over low heat. Add prosciutto/bacon and onion and cook gently for five minutes. Add celery, carrot, and chicken. Fry over moderate heat about five minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until chicken colors. Sprinkle with flour and nutmeg. Add clove and season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Pour about one third of the wine and beef stock (or blood) into the pot. Stir well, scraping any pieces sticking to the bottom of the pan. Lower heat, cover, and cook for approximately one and one half hours, slowing adding the remaining wine. Add a little water if sauce becomes too dry. Keep warm.
3. Serve over noodles.
Now, I should note that I was tempted enough by the scent and taste of the in-progress sauce to finish making my noodles and grab some sauce about a half hour into the simmering process. I still have the majority of the sauce simmering on the stove, in fact. Nonetheless, my initial reaction is very favorable. The sauce, even at a mere 30 minutes in, is savory with layers of flavor -- meat, vegetable, spice, alcohol, all blending together in a pleasant whole. At this stage, however, the sauce definitely doesn't cling to the noodles as much as it flavors the constituent parts of the sauce itself.
All the same, this is in my opinion a great dish, and I'll definitely try my hand at making it again in the future. (And I'll post an update with the sauce at one hour and fifteen minutes, too. *grin* )
The thing is, Roessner did an enormous amount of research and background -- including, as it turned out, a substantial number of included recipes (since her primary protagonist is a cook's apprentice). I had always wanted, at the time, to try out some of the recipes. Back then, though, I was nowhere near as financially able or culinarily inclined as to actually try my hand at them.
I picked up my copy of The Stars Dispose last week and have been devouring it ever since -- and, having finished it, I rediscovered the recipes at the back of the book. The original recipe is "Pappardelle with Rabbit Sauce", but lacking rabbit and having no desire to make pasta from scratch (no pasta maker), I improvised.
Thus, Fettucine with Marsala Chicken Sauce
Ingredients:
Sauce:
* 1 1/4 lbs. chicken, cut in pieces
* 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 2 oz. prosciutto, chopped (I diced up three slices of bacon instead)
* 2 small yellow onions, chopped
* 2 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped
* 1/3 cup rich beef stock (alternatively, use 1/3 cup rabbit's blood *grin* )
* 2 carrots, chopped (I ended up using about a dozen or so baby carrots, chopped up)
* 1 tablespoon white flour
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (a pinch, basically)
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (alternatively, 1 whole clove)
* salt and pepper to taste (I used half a teaspoon of each, just as a test)
* 1 1/4 cups marsala cooking wine (the original recipe recommends the same quantity of red wine, but I had some marsala left over)
Pasta:
* technically, any pasta will do -- but I first prepared this with 1/2 lb of fettucine.
Method:
1. Warm olive oil in a heavy pot over low heat. Add prosciutto/bacon and onion and cook gently for five minutes. Add celery, carrot, and chicken. Fry over moderate heat about five minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until chicken colors. Sprinkle with flour and nutmeg. Add clove and season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Pour about one third of the wine and beef stock (or blood) into the pot. Stir well, scraping any pieces sticking to the bottom of the pan. Lower heat, cover, and cook for approximately one and one half hours, slowing adding the remaining wine. Add a little water if sauce becomes too dry. Keep warm.
3. Serve over noodles.
Now, I should note that I was tempted enough by the scent and taste of the in-progress sauce to finish making my noodles and grab some sauce about a half hour into the simmering process. I still have the majority of the sauce simmering on the stove, in fact. Nonetheless, my initial reaction is very favorable. The sauce, even at a mere 30 minutes in, is savory with layers of flavor -- meat, vegetable, spice, alcohol, all blending together in a pleasant whole. At this stage, however, the sauce definitely doesn't cling to the noodles as much as it flavors the constituent parts of the sauce itself.
All the same, this is in my opinion a great dish, and I'll definitely try my hand at making it again in the future. (And I'll post an update with the sauce at one hour and fifteen minutes, too. *grin* )