This recipe is the happy result of marrying three of my favorite comfort foods: creamy pasta, chicken and hot sauce.
While images of buffalo chicken wings can sometimes conjure up mouth-on-fire-finger-licking-memories, this buffalo sauce has just the right amount of heat thanks to the addition of cream and chicken broth which mellows the blaze. Of course if you live on the wild side and like your food hot and spicy, go ahead and add more to suit your taste buds.
If you’re a buffalo chicken purist, feel free to garnish with a few crumbles of Blue Cheese on top instead of Parmesan. We like to crunch on sticks of carrots and celery alongside the pasta.
Buffalo Chicken Fettuccine
- 1 pound fettuccine noodles
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- ¾ pound skinless and boneless chicken breasts, about 1 large or 2 small breasts
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 leek, white and light green part only, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced, plus 1 carrot peeled and cut into sticks
- 2 ribs celery, 1 rib diced, 1 cut into sticks
- 1½ cups chicken stock
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 5 tablespoons hot sauce, or to taste
- 1 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated, plus more for serving
- Parsley leaves for garnish
- Cook fettuccine noodles according to package directions, reserve ½ cup cooking water, drain and set aside.
- Bring large pan to medium high heat and melt 1 tablespoon butter. Season chicken breasts with kosher salt and black pepper and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side, turning once or twice, until browned and juices run clear. Remove from pan, cover with foil and set aside to rest.
- Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon butter to same pan. Add leeks and cook for about 3 minutes or until they begin to soften. Add garlic, diced carrots and diced celery, season with kosher salt and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently so vegetables soften but don’t brown.
- Add chicken stock, bring to boil then reduce to low boil until liquid is reduced by half, leaving about 1 cup.
- Add heavy cream and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook 5-7 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
- Stir in hot sauce and Parmesan and cook 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Slice chicken breast into thin slices and add to sauce with fettuccine noodles and toss to coat. Cook another 1-2 minutes. Season with more salt if desired. If sauce is too thick, add reserved pasta water 1 tablespoon at a time until it’s the desired consistency. Garnish with parsley. Serve with additional Parmesan, carrot and celery sticks.
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