Photo: Pan-Seared Chicken with Porcini-Chestnut Sauce with Steamed Spinach and Orzo Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds orzo pasta
- 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup chopped shallots
- 1/2 cup dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup chopped canned or bottled shelled chestnuts
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 12 ounces spinach, cleaned and steamed in the microwave
Directions
Cook orzo according to package directions.
Soak mushrooms in 1 cup hot water for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to hot pan. Sear 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside. To the same pan, add garlic and shallots and saute 3 minutes, until soft. Add sherry and thyme and cook 1 minute. Return chicken to pan with the chicken broth and chestnuts. Drain mushrooms through a paper towel-lined sieve and add to pan with the strained soaking liquid. Simmer 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Remove 2 chicken breast halves and reserve for another meal. To the skillet, add heavy cream and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat and serve chicken and mushroom sauce over half of the orzo pasta, reserving second half of orzo for another meal. Serve spinach on the side.
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By saradetienne_12...
Fitchburg, 89
on April 07, 2010
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Our family really liked this recipe. We used risoto instead of orzo. The chestnuts were hard to find, but overall we would make it again.
By meghannbattles_...
Englewood, 44
on January 08, 2010
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I agree with the other reviewer - this dish does not have much flavor and is very watery. I was really disappointed because when I read the list of ingredients I thought it would be delicious. On a side note, I substituted walnuts because I couldn't find chestnuts either and it was fine. I really wanted to love this dish!
By jennie00409_6786003
Wilmington, DE
on September 22, 2009
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I also disagree with the comments that this recipe wasn?t flavorful? I felt it had far too much flavor, even though I didn?t use shallots (I don?t like onion flavors, sherry (I replaced it with more chicken broth, or chestnuts (I searched the grocery store 3 times & couldn?t find them. It wasn?t a difficult recipe, but while I like mushrooms, I found the porcini mushroom flavor to be overpowering. While I didn?t like it, my husband and 13-month old baby boy really liked it. My husband tends to like heavily spiced foods, while I like much more bland foods, and my baby would eat anything I cook! Believe it or not, I also couldn?t find orzo at Shoprite, so I substituted rice. I definitely won?t be making this recipe again!
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