I get that I'm a bit of an anomaly when it comes to the kitchen. My desire to avoid too many processed foods and save money by making some things from home occasionally overwhelms my lack of interest in spending time over a hot stove. That being said, I try really hard to limit that amount of time spent over a hot stove and surprisingly manage to throw together a great number of meals in a pretty short amount of time. My favorite is when I can manage 30 minutes or less.
We are channeling Rachel Ray here....
With this meal I did miss the mark by 5 minutes. Gimme a break though, homemade pasta. With a rolling pin. No fancy equipment. Did I really say that? Type that? Why yes, I did. So here is the run down by time including ingredients I used so you can do the same. If you are feeling froggy.
Ribbit.
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo from scratch in 35 min - with homemade pasta
5:30 pm
- Add 1 stick of butter to small saucepan (this will be for the alfredo sauce) and turn heat on low to melt
- Add 4 cups (or more) of water (I used slightly frozen chicken broth) to another larger pan and turn on high to boil for your pasta
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| 5 minutes in |
5:35 pm
- Your chicken should be just starting to cook and your butter melting well. I still had some ice in my chicken broth at this point since it was homemade broth I had frozen and only mostly thawed out.
- For the pasta: In medium bowl, mix 1 cup of all purpose flour with 1/2 cup of water and a dash of salt. Feel free to use semolina flour if you want to get fancy, but all purpose works just fine. When the dough comes together, transfer it to a well floured surface and knead until it is elastic and not so sticky.
5:40pm
- Wrap your pasta dough in plastic and allow to rest. (Note: Here is where the pasta gurus will be pulling their hair out. In theory, you should knead for more than 5 minutes and rest for longer as well. Since I was trying to be all impressive with expediency, I took less than optimal time. It still turned out well).- Stir chicken.
- To the melted butter, add 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I use the good ol' sprinkle kind, but feel free to be fancy with fresh grated), 2-3 minced, crushed, or grated cloves of garlic (based on clove size and taste preference), and 1/4 cup (or more if needed) of milk to thin the mixture. Whisk until well blended. Turn the heat up slightly to help melt the cheese.
5:45pm- Take the dough out of the plastic and divide into two equal parts. Flour your work surface well and roll it out to about 1/16-1/8" thick. Using a ruler and pizza cutter, cut the dough into thin strips. I don't measure, I just guess - the ruler helps me keep my cuts a bit straighter. Lay out pasta strips on a rack to dry slightly.
- Stir chicken, it should be cooking pretty well at this point.
- Stir alfredo sauce. Turn heat to low if looking well blended and mostly smooth.
- Pasta water/broth should be starting to simmer at this point.
5:55pm
- Steam some microwave steamable green beans or broccoli. I like broccoli with this meal since I can add butter and parmesan cheese to compliment the alfredo sauce.- Add pasta to the boiling water or broth and let it cook. Since this is fresh made, it will only take a few minutes to cook.
- Stir chicken, it should be mostly done.
6:00pm
- Drain chicken of extra juices. Add alfredo sauce to pan with chicken. Strain pasta and add to chicken pan. Mix well to fully coat with the sauce, but take care not to rip apart the pasta.
- Remove veggies from microwave and mix with butter and parmesan cheese (if using broccoli).
6:05pm
- Plate your meal and enjoy!
Ok, now, just a few (dozen) notes:
- I did not do any prep ahead aside from setting out the frozen chicken and broth earlier in the day to thaw. There was no pre-measuring of ingredients. As I was making this, I was pulling things out of the pantry, fridge, and cabinets. Obviously gathering supplies and measuring ingredients ahead of time will expedite the whole process once you get going.
- I only used half of the pasta dough. My family isn't huge on pasta, so we only eat small amounts. If you roll out and cook both halves of the dough, you'd obviously be adding a bit of time. After dinner I did roll out the rest, cut it up and put it in the dehydrator to dry for a future meal.
- Feel free to opt for fresh or frozen broccoli that gets steamed on the stove. Just set that up at the beginning when you are setting up your other pots and it should be good to go by the time you finish everything else.
- Using jarred (or premade) sauce and premade pasta makes this meal go way faster, so keep that in mind since even without making it all at once (or not doing it all from scratch) it's still a quick meal.
- This meal fed my family of four with only some broccoli left over. You can probably do the full batch of pasta and up to 2 lbs of chicken with the same amount of sauce - the amounts I used resulted in extra sauce. Alternately, you don't have to use the whole batch of alfredo sauce and can save some for later.
And now for the recipe if you want it all in one place:
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
Afredo Sauce:
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2-4 cloves minced garlic (to taste)
milk to thin if needed
Mix ingredients over low heat stirring frequently until well blended and cheese melted.
Fettuccine Pasta:
1 cup flour (semolina or all purpose work well)
1/2 cup water
dash of salt
extra flour for kneading
Mix ingredients in medium bowl until they come together. Transfer dough to floured surface and knead for about ten minutes until the dough is elastic and no longer sticky adding flour as needed. When correct consistency is achieved, wrap in plastic and let stand for about 20 minutes. After twenty minutes, divide dough into two parts wrapping one back in plastic while you work with the other. Roll out to about 1/16"-1/8" thick. Using a straight-edge or freehand, cut with pizza cutter or knife into thin strips about 1/4" wide. Lay out to dry slightly before cooking.
To cook, bring a full pot of salted water or broth to a boil and add pasta. When pasta is done, it will be slightly translucent and float at the top.
Chicken Breast:
1.5-2lbs. chicken breast cut into 1/2" cubes
Cook chicken in small amount of your favorite cooking oil until done.
Combine cooked pasta, alfredo sauce, and chicken. Serve with steamed vegetables and top with a sprinkle of parsley if desired.
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
Afredo Sauce:
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2-4 cloves minced garlic (to taste)
milk to thin if needed
Mix ingredients over low heat stirring frequently until well blended and cheese melted.
Fettuccine Pasta:
1 cup flour (semolina or all purpose work well)
1/2 cup water
dash of salt
extra flour for kneading
Mix ingredients in medium bowl until they come together. Transfer dough to floured surface and knead for about ten minutes until the dough is elastic and no longer sticky adding flour as needed. When correct consistency is achieved, wrap in plastic and let stand for about 20 minutes. After twenty minutes, divide dough into two parts wrapping one back in plastic while you work with the other. Roll out to about 1/16"-1/8" thick. Using a straight-edge or freehand, cut with pizza cutter or knife into thin strips about 1/4" wide. Lay out to dry slightly before cooking.
To cook, bring a full pot of salted water or broth to a boil and add pasta. When pasta is done, it will be slightly translucent and float at the top.
Chicken Breast:
1.5-2lbs. chicken breast cut into 1/2" cubes
Cook chicken in small amount of your favorite cooking oil until done.
Combine cooked pasta, alfredo sauce, and chicken. Serve with steamed vegetables and top with a sprinkle of parsley if desired.
