Giveaway Winners! And Pasta with Chicken, Mushrooms and Sun Dried Tomato/Cream Sauce

Thanks to random.org, the winners of the giveaway have been drawn and are #13 Kelsey (please contact me with your address so I can send the ornaments to you), #9 Maureen and #11 Libby.  Happy tree-trimming!

And now that we are into December, I'm going to give you a Christmas playlist!

Playlist

• "Mr. Heatmiser".......Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
• "Jingle Bells"........The Brian Setzer Orchestra
• "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch".....Rockapella
• "Ay, Ay, Ay It's Christmas".......Ricky Martin
• "Elf's Lament"......Barenaked Ladies
• "Santa Claus Is Back In Town".........Dwight Yoakam
• "Rockabilly Christmas"......Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
• "Winter Wonderland"......The Brian Setzer Orchestra
• "Glow Worm/It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas".....Rockapella
• "All I Want For Christmas Is You".......Mariah Carey

Pasta With Chicken, Mushrooms and Sun Dried Tomato-Cream Sauce {Serves 4 to 6}

• 12 oz. dried pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup light cream
• heaping 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup shredded basil, plus more for garnish

Gather your ingredients.  Do your prep work.

Slice the mushrooms.

Chop the tomatoes.

Shred the chicken.  

I bought a store-roasted rotisserie chicken, 1. because it saves time 2. I love the flavor of roasted chicken and 3. because it's been a while since I bought one and they make my life so much easier.  See here and here and here and here for all sorts of fun you can have with a rotisserie chicken.

I only used the breast meat from one side of this chicken, so I have some left for another day.  What to do with it?  I don't know.  Maybe some sort of soup?  I'll figure it out, and post it here when I do.

Now, back to today's recipe.

Boil a large (6 to 8 quart) pot of salted water and cook the pasta according to package directions.  Use whatever type of pasta you like best.  Today, I'm using bow tie pasta.

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the olive oil.

When the oil has heated, add the mushrooms.  Stir them around a bit, and cook them until they are soft, about 5 minutes.

While the mushrooms are cooking, shred your basil.

Stack up the leaves, roll 'em up cigar-like, and slice right through 'em.

Ta-da!

When the mushrooms have softened, add the chicken and the sun dried tomatoes to the pan.

Stir them together.  After about 30 seconds they should start to stick to the pan.  You can see this in the top part of the photo, how the residue is stuck to the pan.  This is good.  You know how I love all the brown goodness that gets stuck to the pan.

Add the wine.

Stir it around and the wine will loosen all the stuck bits.

Add the cream, a few grinds of fresh pepper, and the garlic powder.  Stir to combine.

Add the Parmesan cheese, and stir.  

You know that I usually suggest freshly shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, but in this case I use basic grated Parmesan.  It kind of gets lost in the sauce anyway, and there's no need to use great Parmigiano Reggiano when the basic stuff can get the job done for a fraction of the cost.

By now, your pasta should be done.  Drain the pasta.

Add the fresh tomatoes and basil to the sauce.

I like to use sun dried and fresh tomatoes, because I like the different tastes, the different textures.

Stir to combine the tomatoes and basil into the sauce.  They will quickly heat up, and your sauce is done.  Combine with the pasta and serve.

Top with additional basil and Parmesan (now would be the time to use Parmigiano Reggiano, if you have it).

Enjoy!