Italian Mac n Cheese with Parm Chicken and Red Wine Deglazed Mushrooms

Love is in the air and I just know you want to spend hours preparing a special meal for that special someone! This should do the trick and put everyone involved in a food coma after it's all said and done!

Ok first let me warn you I cook on the fly adding this and that so some of this may not be exact as I don't typically measure as I go along but here goes: (feel free to improvise adding or subtracting your favorite ingredients) Read all the way through so you don't miss any steps first.



The pasta dish alone I bet would serve 6.

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion (chopped)
1 8oz package baby portobello mushrooms (slice with stems)
1 8oz package button mushrooms (slice with stems)
1 1/2- 2 TBL chopped garlic or garlic paste
(cook onion, mushrooms, and garlic until onions are transparent and mushrooms are firm but cooked through. Reserve approx. 1 - 1 1/2 cups in a separate pan)
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach with some of the liquid
1 healthy dash Nutmeg
Salt to taste (the cheese has lots of salt so not to much especially if you are using sea salt)
Pepper
Red Pepper flakes (to taste) I probably used a TBL
1 1lb. box of large elbow macaroni
1lb. mozzarella cut into cubes
3 cups shredded Parmesan and or the Italian cheese blend (that's what I used) (reserve 1 cup)
Butter
Your favorite red wine


Start pasta boiling should take about 7 minutes to aldente.

Pour a glass of wine drink. Cook chopped onions, garlic, and mushrooms until onions are transparent and mushrooms are firm but cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste. Add red pepper flakes. Reserve approx. 1 to 1 1/2 cups mixture in a another pan. Pour another glass of wine.

After reserving part of the mixture add the spinach and tomatoes. If you really like tomatoes like I do I think this recipe could even handle another half can of tomatoes. Cook through.

Drain pasta add to a very large mixing bowl. Add onion, garlic, spinach, mushroom, tomato mixture along with cubed mozzarella and Italian cheeses. Add a healthy dash of nutmeg. Mix together thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top off glass of wine.

Coat the bottom of a very large casserole dish with butter. Dish should be about twice the depth of an average 8 x 8 dish.

Mix about 4 oz of bread crumbs and 1 cup Italian cheeses. Coat bottom of casserole dish with about 1/2 the mixture. Reserve other half to top the dish.

Add pasta mixture to the casserole. Spread bread crumb mixture over top. Sprinkle with a bit more Italian cheese blend.

Pinch pieces of butter from the stick and dollop on top randomly on the dish.

Place in a 375 degree over for about 30-35 minutes.

Relax and finish glass of wine.


Part two chicken and mushrooms.

Chicken-Skinless chicken breasts (2)
marinate in your favorite Italian Parmesan dressing. Add a healthy dose of good paprika, salt and pepper. Refrigerate and marinate for at least 2 hours. Bring to room temp before cooking.

Add a healthy dose of red wine to your reserved mushroom mixture, add a tiny dash of nutmeg. Cook over medium to low heat until wine thickens and is absorbed by the mushrooms and onions. Keep and eye on it as the pan will need to be scraped as the wine reduces or it will burn. Add a dash of tarragon and thyme.

While the mushrooms are cooking coat the bottom of another pan with olive oil at medium high temp. Sere the chicken on both sides to lock in moisture then reduce the temp to medium low. (Cook chicken low and slow for best results.) Should take approx. 20-25 minutes to cook through at correct temp. You may want to cover the pan part way through to lock in more moisture. Sip wine while attentively tending the chicken.

Viola serve chicken covered with the mushrooms with a side of pasta. I think this pasta dish would be fantastic with the chicken added to it but would need an additional can of tomatoes for sure to add enough moisture.

I hope I didn't leave anything out. Good luck and let me know how yours turns out :)