Gluten Free Pasta with Mushrooms, Chicken, and Sun-dried Tomatoes

 Adapted this from here: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a82669/pasta-with-mushrooms-chicken-and-sun-dried-tomatoes/

Ingredients

1 lb. Gluten Free Penne Pasta (I used Banza brand from Costco)

4 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter

1 lb. Baby Bella Mushrooms, Sliced ( a little less than a pound works perfect also)

3 cloves Garlic, I used pre minced 

1/4 cup All-purpose Cornstarch

1 1/2 cups Milk ( I used Lactose free)

1 cup Chicken Stock

1/2 cup of pasta water

1/2 tsp. Paprika

1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup Cream Cheese

Salt And Pepper

Italian Seasoning

Splash of Balsamic Vinegar

2 cups Diced, Cooked Chicken Breast (I used canned chicken)

1/2 cup grape tomatoes

splash of lemon juice

1/2 cup finely chopped spinach

optional- Kalamata Olives sliced for garnish

Night before make your pasta, I have done a full recipe and a half recipe version of this and both turn out great. If you can undercook it by a little that will help, but it turns out great tasting either way make sure to save pasta water!

 Also prep the mushrooms, wipe off dirt with a damp paper towel and thinly slice, discarding the stems, finely chop spinach. Slice tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, additional garlic and roast in the oven at 450 or on broil for 10-20 minutes, checking and stirring frequently, once soft and fragrant keep juices and tomatoes in a separate container from other prepped items for later. 

I started about 30 briquets to be safe as I was using a deep 12 inch Dutch oven but 350 degrees is perfect for what we are starting off with. While briquets were heating up I put my butter in a metal cup over the briquets and melted my butter, I lined my Dutch oven with an aluminum liner- will make clean up with the cheese much easier! 

Once briquets are ready add melted butter to the Dutch oven and toss the sliced mushrooms in, stir frequently, I put most of my briquets on the bottom but had 10 on the top with my deeper Dutch oven. once mushrooms have softened about 5-8 minutes add salt and pepper and garlic, stir for about a minute then add cornstarch and stir until mushrooms are battered. 

Start about 12 more briquets. 

Add milk, chicken stock and pasta water, you can opt out of pasta water and just add the 1/2 cup extra milk but I found the pasta water helped thicken the sauce up nicely.  We now want the heat up high so transfer half of the briquets from the bottom to the top and redistribute it so the hottest ones are not in the center as we don't want to burn the milk mixture. Make sure to stir mixture every 3 minutes or so, we want the liquid to start to boil which will take about 10-15 minutes, my mixture started to burn on the bottom but siring often helped. 

Add the new briquets as soon as they are ready I added mine to the top and a couple on the bottom, rotate oven more often than every 15 minutes for even cooking. Check the liquid, we want it to be thickened. Once thickened add all the cheeses, paprika, splash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, stir frequently to get the cream cheese especially melted. Then add pasta, chicken, tomatoes, spinach and splash of lemon juice and optional sliced kalamata olives. Stir and let mixture sit with the lid on for a couple minutes until pasta and chicken are warm. 

Sprinkle extra spinach and olives on top and enjoy!