Wednesday I got to stand out on the serving line and make pasta to order. But of course I forgot to take a photo of what it was I made. Think chicken with smoked walnuts, red flame grapes in a blue cheese cream sauce.
Here are the ingredients for the pasta:
- Cooking oil
- Minced Garlic
- Smoked Walnuts
- Chicken
- Red Flame Grapes, sliced lengthwise
- Blue Cheese Crumbles
- White Wine
- Heavy Cream
- Penne Noodles, al dente
Coat a large fry pan with cooking oil (when hot) and add chicken, garlic and walnuts. When chicken is almost cooked through, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine to deglaze the pan.
When it is almost evaporated, add cream and grapes and allow chicken to fully cook. Be sure to coat everything with the cream. At this point add the cheese and cooked pasta, again coat with cream and heat thoroughly.
To smoke the walnuts, we placed a small amount off wood in a 4″ deep pan and lit it on fire, and blew out the flame so it smoldered. In a 2″ perforated pan of the same size, line with walnuts, and fit it into the 4″ deep pan. Cover it tightly with aluminum foil and let sit for 5-10 minutes. You can also do this with cheese, allowing you to get that nice smoky flavor without cooking it.
