RecipeTin Eats’ chicken and mushroom Alfredo pasta bake (starring your new favourite cheesy, creamy sauce)

Name: RecipeTin Eats’ chicken and mushroom Alfredo pasta bake (starring your new favourite cheesy, creamy sauce)
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 500g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 1cm slices; ¾ tsp cooking salt; ¾ tsp black pepper; 350g penne pasta; 2 tsp cooking salt; 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 500g cup mushrooms, sliced 6mm thick

Here’s everybody’s favourite creamy pasta, only as a deep-dish bake.

RecipeTin Eats

May 16, 2023

This chicken and mushroom pasta bake is all about the silky-smooth Alfredo sauce. Rob Palmer

easyTime:30 mins - 1 hourServes:4

Everybody loves a good Alfredo pasta. So imagine it in pasta bake form – with mushrooms and tender, juicy bites of chicken. The star of this recipe is the Alfredo sauce, in all its creamy, parmesan-flavoured glory.

You won’t need to worry about lumps – the technique of adding the flour to coat the chicken ensures it dissolves easily into the milk, creating a silky smooth sauce.

The SOS checklist

Feeds four for less than $20 ✓
Fewer than 12 ingredients (excluding oil, salt, pepper and water) ✓

Ingredients

500g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 1cm slices
¾ tsp cooking salt
¾ tsp black pepper
350g penne pasta
2 tsp cooking salt
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
500g cup mushrooms, sliced 6mm thick

Alfredo Sauce

50g unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
60ml (¼ cup) white wine
75g (½ cup) plain flour – see note
500ml (2 cups) full-fat milk, hot
250ml (1 cup) thickened cream
375ml (1½ cups) salt-reduced chicken stock
¾ tsp cooking salt
½ tsp black pepper
100g (1 cup) grated parmesan
250g (2½ cups) grated mozzarella

Method

Step 1
Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional). Toss the chicken with ¾ teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
Step 2
Bring a pot of water to the boil with the 2 teaspoons of salt. Cook penne according to packet directions then drain in a colander. Set aside.
Step 3
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pot on your biggest stove burner until very hot. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly, until they soften and turn light brown (see note). Remove from the pot.
Step 4
For the Alfredo sauce, in the same pot, still on high heat, melt the butter until foaming. Add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes until lightly coloured but still raw on the inside. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Pour in wine, stir, then simmer rapidly until it reduces by half.
Step 5
Add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Slowly pour in hot milk while stirring constantly. Cook until the sauce thickens slightly (30 seconds to 1 minute), then stir in the cream, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the sauce is thick and you can draw a path on the back of the wooden spoon. Stir in all the parmesan and about 100g (1 cup) of the mozzarella.
Step 6
Add the pasta and mushrooms, then stir to combine. Transfer to a 23cm x 33cm baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, then bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

If the mushrooms become watery, which can happen if your pot doesn’t retain heat well or your stove is not strong enough, remove half and cook in two batches. Don’t be tempted to switch the oil for butter – oil is much more effective for cooking large batches of mushrooms on the stove.
I know it looks like a lot of flour, but it’s the right amount for the volume of liquid we’re using. Plus, we’re making loads of sauce here, because nobody likes a dry pasta bake.

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