Chicken and Sausage Penne with Garlicky Cream Sauce
One of my wife’s favorite takeout dishes is the Chicken Bryan from Carrabba’s. I’ve made a copycat of that for her in the past (was pretty good!), and last night she asked if I might be able to make a pasta version of that. Challenge accepted!
This recipe follows a tried-and-true method I use for creating dishes:
- Render down some salty protein like bacon or sausage. While we’ll eat the protein, we’re more after the rendered fat for flavoring the dish.
- Brown some other, main protein. You may end up finish cooking it in the liquid later, or maybe cook it through at this point.
- Saute some aromatics in the fat from above.
- Add some cooking liquid and maybe thicken it a bit, simmer with some sort of starch. (standard ratio for using a roux to thicken is 1 tbsp of fat, 1 tbsp of flour, and 1 cup of cooking liquid)
- Add all protein and fresh aromatics.
I refer to this as my “stew method” and use a version of this here.
The Chicken Bryan is chicken topped with sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, and a lemon butter sauce. So, for making this a pasta dish, a buttery, garlicky cream sauce seemed the right route to go. Additionally, sausage is a natural complement to chicken breast as the fattiness of the sausage balances the leanness of the chicken. Since lemon can curdle cream, I opted to add some white wine instead (and of course drink the rest with the meal), and since the dish was already going to be pretty rich and creamy, I subbed out the goat cheese with some Parmigiano Reggiano.
Lastly, many recipes you’ll find online will use 100% heavy cream, half and half, or maybe whole milk for cream sauces. I find this to be way more calories and fat than is truly needed. So, most of the sauce is actually wine or chicken stock, but by adding the heavy cream at the end, your palate will never know it’s not 100% cream.
Okay, let’s get to it!
First, start bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil. I like to measure out my 8oz of pasta in the colander I’ll use to drain it later and set aside until I’m ready for it. The water will probably be boiling before we’re ready for it, but no biggie, just let it sit there. It’s not like you can burn water, and you can always add some more if it evaporates too much before you’re ready to cook the pasta.
Next, preheat a large stainless steel or nonstick pan over medium heat. This is the only other pan we’re going to need. While that’s heating up, season the chicken breast with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder (if the chicken is very thick, you may want to pound it a bit thin first so it’ll cook more quickly and evenly). Add some olive oil to the pan when hot, then add the chicken and cook through, which should take about 8 minutes or so (use a thermometer to be sure it’s fully cooked).
While the chicken is cooking, cut the Italian sausage links into half moons. Confession: in the image above, that’s actually Andouille sausage, as no store had any Italian sausage available that day. When the chicken is done, remove it to a plate and set aside, then add the sausage (add a bit more oil if needed, but exercise moderation). You can turn the pan up a bit if you’d like to speed this part up. The sausage is already cooked, so we really just want to brown it for flavor and render out some of that fat so it’ll be in our sauce. Go ahead and prep the other ingredients now if you haven’t already and add the penne to the boiling water and cook per instructions on the package (be sure to reserve about a half cup of the pasta water before draining).
When the sausage is done, remove with a slotted spoon and add to the same plate as the chicken (everything is cooked at this point, so there’s no real risk of cross contamination or anything). Turn the heat down to just below medium. At this point, we want about 1 tablespoon of fat left in the pan, so drain or add some olive oil as needed, then add another tablespoon of butter. We’re going to sweat the onion and garlic with a bit of salt (sweating is similar to sauteeing but is done over low heat, whereas saute is over high heat and intended to brown the vegetables) until translucent. Now, for the roux: add 2 tablespoons of flour and mix into the vegetables with a whisk or flat end of a wooden spoon and cook until just starting to darken, about 2 minutes. Be sure to stir constantly here as it’s easy to burn. When ready, add the white wine and mix until everything is has a loose, pasty consistency. Next, whisk in the chicken stock and add the Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and a pinch of black powder. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.
At this point, go ahead and chop the parsley, chiffonade the basil (roll it tight together and cut into very thin ribbons), and slice the chicken. When the sauce has thickened, add a half cup of heavy cream and stir throughout. At this point, taste and adjust the salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper as needed. Add the parsley and basil and continue simmering for about 2 minutes. Now add in the pasta and all the protein (including any juices on the plate) and stir together; this will warm the protein back up a bit. If the sauce is too thick here, add a bit of the reserved pasta water to get the desired consistency. Taste one more time to make sure everything is just right for you.
Now, it’s time to eat! Divide everything into 4 bowls and top with some sundried tomatoes and Parmigiano Reggiano (no green can here, please; this is the time to use the good stuff). We add the tomatoes at this point so they don’t change the color of the cream sauce. This technically makes 4 servings, but if you end up just splitting this with one other person, I won’t judge. This makes for a great stay-in date night (especially with so few dishes to wash), family meal, or even meal prep for lunches for the week.
Riffs
- Adding some spinach works well here. In fact, if you have some leftover creamed spinach from a steak night, this is a great way to use it.
- Different sausages can of course be used, and shrimp is never bad here. You can omit the chicken if you’d like, but I find it helps balance all of these strong flavors.
- Keep the heat as mild as needed so that everyone can enjoy, then just add some additional to each bowl as needed for those that prefer a bit more kick; since the dish is so hot at this point, stirring in some additional at the end will get you where you want to be.
Chicken and Sausage Penne with Garlicky Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 oz Italian sausage links, hot preferred
- 1 tbsp butter unsalted
- ½ whole red onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp white flour
- ½ c white wine dry, e.g. Chardonnay
- 1 c chicken broth low sodium
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper or to taste
- ½ c heavy cream
- 2 tbsp Italian parsley chopped
- 4 tbsp basil chiffonade
- 2 tbsp sundried tomatoes
- 2 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano grated
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (the water should taste like the ocean).
- While water is getting to a boil, preheat a stainless steel or nonstick pan over medium heat. Season the chicken breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. When the pan is hot, add 1 tbsp olive oil and saute chicken on each side until done, about 8 minutes total. Set aside.
- In the same pan, add the Italian sausage and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Set aside with the chicken.
- At this point, add the penne to the boiling water and cook according to the instructions on the box. When done, reserve about ½ c of the pasta water, drain pasta and set aside.
- In the same pan, leave about 1 tbsp of fat in (add a bit more olive oil if needed), then add 1 tbsp of unsalted butter. Add the onion and garlic with a pinch of salt and sweat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and whisk together to make a light roux, about 2 minutes. Add wine and whisk to combine, then add chickent stock, Italian seasoning, ½ tsp black pepper (no need to measure, eyeing it is fine here) and crushed red pepper and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add heavy cream, parsley, and basil and simmer for 2 more minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
- Add pasta, chicken, and sausage to the pan and stir/toss to combine. Divide pasta into 4 bowls and garnish with the sundried tomatoes and Parmigiano Reggiano. Serve immediately.