Chicken with Gorgonzola and Pistachios
I got this recipe from a friend, Chef John Farion. John got the recipe from a famous chef he was working under. He once told a guest that only he and that chef knew about this recipe. The original recipe calls for Gorgonzola, which is perfect, but you can substitute good blue cheese. Make sure that you get good blue cheese, not the kind that is already crumbled and possibly dried up, flavorless. You can use four pre-boned chicken breasts from the market if you do not feel comfortable boning chicken yourself. I prefer to use Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Noodles for this dish, and it goes well with just done broccoli and a glass of Chardonnay.
I got this recipe from a friend, Chef John Farion. John got the recipe from a famous chef he was working under. He once told a guest that only he and that chef knew about this recipe. The original recipe calls for Gorgonzola, which is perfect, but you can substitute good blue cheese. Make sure that you get good blue cheese, not the kind that is already crumbled and possibly dried up, flavorless. You can use four pre-boned chicken breasts from the market if you do not feel comfortable boning chicken yourself. I prefer to use Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Noodles for this dish, and it goes well with just done broccoli and a glass of Chardonnay.
- Carbohydrate 5.9258875 g
- Cholesterol 300.466875 mg
- Fat 20.6773875 g
- Fiber 1.77437502861023 g
- Protein 114.857745 g
- Saturated Fat 7.403399375 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (536g)
- Sodium 431.679375 mg
- Sugar 4.15151247138977 g
- Trans Fat 2.338416875 g
- Calories 697 calories
Step-by-step
- Shell the pistachio nuts. Heat a pan and toast the nuts in it, stirring often to prevent burning. Chop into a course chop and set aside.
- Cut the chicken into one inch pieces and set aside. Put butter into a saute pan, melt, then add garlic. Saute until translucent, then add mushrooms. Saute mushrooms and add about a tablespoon of white wine. Cook the mushrooms until they brown, then remove from the pan and set aside.
- Boil a large pot of water and add salt. Add pasta.
- Put more butter into the saute pan, then add chicken pieces. Saute on high heat until they are browned nicely on all sides. Remove from the pan, and deglaze with wine. Cook the wine down, then put the chicken back. Add the cream, and cook down until the cream has thickened. Add half of the nuts, leaving the rest for garnish. If you do not have anyone that is adverse to blue cheese, add the cheese at this point. Then add the mushrooms. Just before serving, crack black peppercorns over.
- Cook the pasta until it is al dente. If it reaches that stage before the chicken is done, turn the heat off. Drain the pasta in a colander and start to plate-up.
- Put pasta, then serve chicken and sauce over the pasta. Top with cheese if you have not added it to the sauce, then garnish with remaining nuts and chopped Italian parsley.
Swapping the traditional Gorgonzola for pre-crumbed supermarket blue cheese completely alters the sauce, leaving you with a grainy texture and dull flavor profile that fails to bind with the heavy cream. Achieving the proper consistency requires paying close attention to the details of dairy reduction and cheese selection.
- Buy a block of whole blue cheese rather than pre-crumbled varieties, which are coated in cellulose to prevent sticking and will not melt smoothly into the sauce.
- Toast the raw pistachios in a dry skillet over medium heat for approximately four to five minutes, stirring constantly until fragrant, before executing a coarse chop.
- Brown the chicken pieces on high heat to develop Maillard compounds, but remove them promptly before adding the white wine to prevent overcooking the meat during the deglazing phase.
- Reduce the heavy cream over moderate heat until it coats the back of a spoon thickly before reintroducing the mushrooms and cheese.
Freezing this dish is not recommended because the high dairy and fat content will break and separate upon thawing. Leftovers stored in an airtight container must be consumed within two days and gently reheated over low heat.
