What you need to make the recipe:
- Chicken breasts: After seasoning with a light rub, boneless, skinless chicken breasts are seared in a skillet. They cook quickly to juicy perfection.
- Seasonings: Combine garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper to make a savory rub. Season the chicken breasts right before cooking or up to eight hours in advance.
- Any long pasta shape, fresh or dried, will work in this recipe for fettuccine Alfredo, but the traditional shape is a long, thick noodle. Instead of fettuccine noodles, try linguine, spaghetti, or pappardelle.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream is the main component of the most delicious Alfredo sauce. Its high fat content coats the pasta so deliciously that additional thickeners (like flour or cream cheese) are not necessary. Milk or half-and-half won’t work in this recipe because of this. Choose containers labeled 20%E2%80%9Cheavy%20whipping%20cream%E2%80%9D%20or simply 20%E2%80%9Cheavy%20cream%E2%80%9D%20which%20has%20a%20fat%20content%20of up to %2038% when you go shopping for cream to make Alfredo sauce. Plain 20%E2%80%9Cwhipping cream 20%E2%80%9D is primarily about 335 percent fat, but it can also be used
- Parmesan cheese: Buy a chunk of cheese and grate it by hand with a rasp or box grater, in a food processor, or use the best freshly grated Parmesan you can afford.
- Butter: Use your choice of salted or unsalted butter. Good Irish or European-style butter is amazing in this recipe.
- Garlic: Add a teaspoon or so of finely grated fresh garlic to the cream to give it flavor.
- Parsley: As a garnish, I adore the vibrant color and flavor that fresh parsley brings. Simply leave it out if you don’t have any with you.
To give the chicken lots of flavor, make a simple seasoning rub before cooking it and adding it to the Alfredo sauce:
- 1. Put the chicken on a plate. In a small bowl, mix the onion and garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
- 2. Evenly coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the rub. The chicken can be prepared right away or chilled for up to eight hours.
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Heat a large pot of salted water until it boils, adding two tablespoons of kosher salt per gallon. Moreover, grate 1 1/4 cups of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and finely chop three garlic cloves. Set both aside. (Photo #1).
- Take one pound of chicken breasts and butterfly them, making the pieces about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick. The simplest way to accomplish this is with a meat mallet and plastic bag. (Photo #2).
- Season the flattened chicken with blackened seasoning on both sides. Use about 2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons of seasoning. If you’d like, you can also just use one teaspoon of salt and one-half teaspoon of pepper. (Photo #3).
- Heat a stainless steel pan to medium heat. After three minutes of heating up, add a small amount of olive oil to the pan and place the chicken down to sear. Add one tablespoon of butter to the pan after two minutes. (Photo #4).
- It should take about three minutes for each side of the chicken to cook. After cooking, transfer the blackened chicken to a chopping board and cover with foil. (Photo #5).
- Heat 7 tablespoons of butter and the garlic in a fresh, clean pan over medium-low heat. Note: You don’t want to use the pan that blackened the chicken for fond/deglazing since it will be burnt and will ruin your alfredo sauce! (Photo #6).
- Add the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream after the garlic has turned golden, which should take about 2 minutes. Stir the sauce and bring to a simmer. You can now cook your pasta to al dente in boiling water. (Photo #7).
- The sauce will thicken and begin to bubble. When it does, you can reduce the heat to a low setting. Drain the pasta thoroughly and add it to the alfredo sauce once it’s al dente. Toss well, then taste test. Add three tablespoons of finely chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat. Cut the blackened chicken into bite-sized pieces, and then serve it on plated portions of pappardelle or toss it all together with the pasta. Enjoy! Note: To restore the creamy consistency to the pasta if it dries out, add a few tablespoons of the pasta water you set aside at a time. (Photo #8).
- Chicken. Purchasing whole chicken breasts and filleting them yourself will result in cost savings. For optimal results and quickest cooking, pound them to a thickness of approximately 1/2 inch. Additionally, it helps to maximize the surface area of the blackened seasoning. Before seasoning, give the cutlets some time to dry on paper towels.
- Save your pasta water. A vital component of pasta dishes like cacio e pepe and chicken Alfredo is starchy pasta water, as is nearly every pasta dish made with cheese or cream. It aids in the emulsification of the sauce and can be used to partially dried-out sauces to reconstitute them.
- Eat promptly. Serving the blackened chicken Alfredo immediately is advised, just like with any cream sauce. Should you have any leftovers, it’s best to reheat them over the stovetop with a little pasta water.
Cooking instructions (visual guide)
After the chicken breasts are seasoned and cooked until they are soft and golden brown, prepare the sauce in the same pan:
- 3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and the chicken.
- 4. Cook about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Cook the chicken for a further five minutes or until it’s done, covered, over medium heat.
- 5. While preparing the sauce, leave the chicken to rest on a board and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices.
- 6. In the skillet over medium-high heat, add the butter cubes to melt.
- 7. The butter will bubble as it melts and then stop.
- 8. Pour in the cream and bring to a simmer. Cook until the cream reduces and thickens, about 5 minutes.
- 9. Once the sauce is smooth, remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
Boil a large pot of salted water and cook fettuccine or your preferred pasta while the chicken and sauce are cooking.
- 10. To the sauce in the skillet, add the hot, drained noodles.
- 11. Top with the sliced chicken, grated cheese and parsley. Toss together and serve.
