Chicken Marsala and Browned-Butter/Myzithra Pasta

I’ve had a hankering for BOTH chicken marsala and Browned-Butter/Myzithra Pasta … you know, the kind you get at Spaghetti Factory. I’m not sure it’s possible not to like pasta with butter on it, browned or not. But there’s something wonderful about browned butter. It takes on a nutty deliciousness you can’t get any other way.

Today was the day. I made a batch of porcini powder this morning (see previous post), so I was good to go.

First, I flattened three chicken breasts using the flat side of a mallet (this was much more chicken than I ended up needing, but the rest will go in salad for lunches this week). When the pieces were uniformly thin, I cut them into smaller pieces, seasoned them with porcini powder, minced garlic, salt and pepper, and browned them in a little olive oil.

While the chicken cooked, I started a pot of water for the spaghetti noodles. I used a little over a pound of dried noodles. I also cut up about a pound of crimini mushrooms. That’s what I happened to have in the fridge, so that’s what I used. And yes, I do wash my mushrooms before slicing. I know others don’t do that, but I just think anything sitting open like that at the grocery store needs a quick trip under the spout.

After the chicken pieces are nicely browned, cover with a lid for several minutes.

Pile o’mushrooms. Almost too pretty to cook. But I got past it.

This is the second batch of chicken. It looked like it needed a little more oil, but as I was just about ready to make the marsala sauce, I opted for a spoonful of butter instead. Since I had room in the pan, I gave the mushrooms a little head start.

Time for the marsala. I just poured in enough to deglaze the pan, plus maybe another half a cup or so. I try to always keep marsala and sherry on hand–especially for sauteing mushrooms.

Next came a little whipping cream. Maybe a half cup total. You wouldn’t believe how great this tastes at this point.

After I scraped all that marsala-and-cream loveliness into a serving bowl, I browned a cube of butter (yes, a cube) until it was foamy and golden brown, then seasoned with a little garlic powder and poured over my prepared spaghetti noodles. A little sprinkling of freshly grated myzithra, and it’s ready.

And here it is. Marsala sauce over sliced porcini-flavored chicken, and browned-butter/myzithra cheese over pasta. We ate lunch watching the first snowfall of the year … so satisfying. 🙂