Jack’s Southwestern Chicken Alfredo
I enjoy cooking when I have the time. For me, that’s usually on the weekends and holidays. A few weeks ago I decided to fix one of my favorite recipe’s. The finished dish is pictured above.
In full disclosure I’m a huge fan of cooking shows. I love Guy Fieri and “Triple D” but before Guy was the 1st “FOOD NETWORK STAR” and when I first got satellite TV and was introduced to Emeril “LIVE” on the Food Network, I became a huge fan. If you don’t remember his show, It’s shown below. A Chef with live band and studio audience! How can you NOT love that! In the below episode Emeril creates some great Mexican dishes.
Once I watched him make a dish where he created alfredo sauce on the fly in a saucepan. I knew at that point that I had to try that dish and enhance it to suit me and that’s where “Jack’s Southwestern Chicken Alfredo” came from. It’s when the Italian countryside and Tex-Mex collide.
Below is how I make the dish in the event you’d like to try it. It’s fun to make for sure. The below recipe is for 4. You can adjust accordingly for the number of people.
This dish is topped with homemade Pico de Gallo. I make that first.
1 medium ripe tomato
1 onion
1 small jalepeno
1 small bell pepper
1 small clove fresh garlic (optional)
Chop the above and place in a mixing bowl. add olive oil to coat. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate.
Chicken breasts are next. I use small boneless chicken breasts because the dish is very rich and the pasta fills you up. These can be grilled if you prefer or can be done in the oven. Either way, when they are about 3 minutes from being done, add a slice of provolone cheese to each breast and let it melt. Remove and keep warm.
Prepare fettuccine in pot with olive oil in the water and salt. Boil water and add pasta. 11-13 minutes gives you a slightly al-dente pasta. Drain when done and place back in pot with warm water to hold while you then prepare the Fettuccine Alfredo dish for each person separately.
In a small saucepan (omelet pan is what I use) low heat
Splash of light olive oil
1/4 stick salted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
Stir in grated ricotta or parmesan cheese to desired thickness. When cheese is melted, from your pasta pot use tongs or pasta scoop to add your 1 serving of pasta. Toss in sauce pan and mix thoroughly.
Plate contents of saucepan, add chicken breast and top with homemade Pico de Gallo. If your guest prefer you can put Pico on the side instead of the top. Doing it this way means it’s a few minutes before everyone is served but we’re having wine and talking and cooking and we let the ladies start first and then men join with the cook being last. A good red wine is a must with this dish, but some of my guests have margarita’s with this and that works too. Enjoy!
