Pasta in Creamy Marsala Sauce

This is my absolute favourite pasta recipe from Maggiano-Little Italy, an American-Italian restaurant here in Houston. I ate this particular dish only once and at the same time studied all the ingredients with each morsel in my mouth. Next thing I did was tried it at home and viola!! it came out good!!!!!!! The best part was that the chef himself presented me this dish at the restaurant and came back for feedback. And my feedback was "I want to kiss your hands".



Ingredients:

8 ounces of Rigatoni, Fussilli or Bow shaped Pasta

2 ounces butter

1/2 cup Marsala Wine

2 garlic heads finely chopped

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tbspn extra virgin olive oil

1 large white onion sliced finely

1 portion cooked skinless chicken breast (cut into bite-size pieces)

1 cup button mushrooms

1 tspn fresh ground black pepper



Method:

Chop up the onions. Put them in a large wok with a couple tablespoons olive oil. Cook on high for a few minutes until the onions are hot and starting to become translucent, then turn down the heat to medium low. As the rest of the steps progress, you'll need to remember to stir the onions every 8 minutes to keep them from burning. The onions will take a long time to reach the desired golden-brown color.

At this point of time heat lots of water with salt to taste for boiling the pasta. Quarter the button mushrooms from top to bottom. Each mushroom piece should have part of the head and part of the stem. When the onions are approaching done (not the rich brown of fully caramelized onions, but getting there) add the mushrooms to the cooking onions. Stir everything together and cook until the mushrooms are looking sautéed. With the onions and mushrooms in the pan, turn the heat up to high and add the wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure the sugars from the onions are released and integrated into the liquid. Add the chicken and garlic. Let it cook over medium heat. Monitor the pasta as it cooks. When it's just reaching the perfect al dente, turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream and grated Parmesan cheese. Cut up the butter into pieces and stir them into the sauce. Add freshly cracked black pepper to taste and serve. Done!