Penne Rustica

There's not a better way to end a great day than with a wonderful meal! I had heard "iffy" reviews about this dish on my cooking board (where I found the recipe) -- some felt they had to majorly alter the recipe and some followed it almost to a "T" and felt the was something missing. My experience was very different. In fact, my experience with the recipe including a meal full of "mmms" with my dad almost singing through dinner with "mmms". It was quite comical and even today he was still talking about the penne rustica from last night....guess it turned out well!


Like I said, I followed this recipe exactly and it was excellent. The rosemary really came through and the marsala wine gave the dish such a nice flavor, an almost (forgive me here for the reference) a la Rachel Ray ::shudder:: "hmm...what is that?" kind of feeling but with a little more "umph". However, with a recipe calling for four, yes, four cups of heavy cream and a stick of butter, this was by no means a "light" recipe and thus the week's healthy eating pretty much went out the window last night. Ah well...we all have to make sacrifices from time to time and I certainly have no regrets about sacrificing a week of good eating for this meal.

And so on to the recipe....

Penne Rustica
source unknown

Sauce:

• 1 T. butter
• 1 T. chopped garlic
• 1/2 T. Dijon mustard (omitted this)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. chopped rosemary
• 1/2 cup marsala wine
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 4 cups heavy cream (I used 2 cups skim milk, 2 cups heavy cream)

1. Saute butter, garlic and rosemary until garlic begins to brown. Add marsala wine and reduce by one-third.
2. Add remaining ingredients and reduce by half of original volume. Set aside.

Penne Rustica:

• 1/2 oz. pancetta or bacon
• 9 ea. shrimp, peeled and deveined (omitted shrimp)
• 6 oz. grilled chicken breast, sliced (used 1lb chicken and seasoned with herbes de provence, garlic powder, salt and pepper)
• 16 oz. penne pasta, precooked
• 3 oz. butter
• 1/2 T. shallots, chopped
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. paprika (omitted this)

1. Saute pancetta until it begins to brown. Add butter, shallots and shrimp. Cook until shrimp are evenly pink but still translucent. Add chicken, salt, and pepper; mix thoroughly.
2. Add sauce and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and simmer until sauce thickens. In a large bowl, combine shrimp and chicken mixture with precooked pasta. Place this mixture into single serving dishes or one large casserole dish. (I used a 13x9 inch glass baking dish.) Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with paprika.
3. Bake at 300 for 10-15 minutes.
   

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 10-15 minutes

Serves: 8