Fast Friday Nights

Friday night – at last the end of the week. The day when the last thing you feel like doing is standing in the kitchen for hours to create something elaborate. You’re tired from picking up the kids late from {insert your child’s choice of soccer, dance, karate, swimming, or pole dancing lessons here...}.

It is important to have some great quick and easy dishes in your regular repertoire that you can put together as if on autopilot. One of my autopilot dishes is Creamy Chicken Pasta with Mushrooms and Bacon. I could probably cook it blindfolded with one hand behind my back standing on one leg - though chopping the ingredients up in this yoga position would be a blood sport.

Think about those dishes that you have probably cooked for years. Things you can easily just throw together in 20 minutes or less. Make a list. Think about how you could convert a few of them into gluten free versions. Is it just matter of using GF stock cubes? Changing the pasta from wheat to rice and/or corn? Thickening the sauces with GF cornflour instead of standard plain flour?  Once you have started to transform your pantry items on hand from “gluten full” to “gluten free”, you may be surprised at just how easy re-jigging your mother’s favourite beef casserole recipe may be.

Back in my stressed out and overworked days, standard operating procedure for a Friday night fare would have been pick up takeaway, or alternatively an ‘almost ready made meal’ such as Latino fresh tortellini (cooks in 5 mins!) with a container of microwavable pasta sauce to plonk on top. Within 10 minutes dinner was served! Bon Appetite!!

Being gluten free your options are a little more limited when it comes to takeaway choices. Having a few autopilot dishes ready to go for a Friday night is a great way of not giving in to temptation at the gluten loaded corner takeaway shop. This recipe is a little rich and decadent with all that cream but we all need comfort food at the end of a hard week. Mondays can always be your salad days!

Ingredients

1 Large single chicken breast fillet, trimmed of fat and thinly sliced

250 g rindless short cut bacon, trimmed of fat and thinly sliced

250 g mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 onion, finely chopped

1-2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and minced (to taste)

300 ml fresh cream

1/3 cup white wine

2 heaped teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 heaped teaspoon seeded mustard

Your choice of brand GF pasta shells or spirals

Parmesan cheese, freshly grated or shaved to serve

Continential parsley, chopped, as a garnish to finish

Method

1. Put large pot of water on to boil.
2. Start chopping up your ingredients. Cut up the onion. Place in a medium saucepan with the olive oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Cut up the chicken. Remember, the smaller the slices of chicken, the faster they will cook! Add the chicken to the pot and stir.
4. Add the minced garlic and mustard. I love garlic and so do all my family so I use two cloves!
5. Cut the mushrooms and add to the pot. Cook for 3-4 mins.
6. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the directions on the packet.
7. Add the mustards to the saucepan, cook for 1 min. Add the wine and simmer for 2 mins. Add the cream and stir frequently until the sauce is at a high simmer. Cook for a further 5 mins until cream has reduced slightly and thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Optional: If you like your pasta sauce thick so it coats the pasta, mix 2 teaspoons of GF cornflour well with 3 tablespoons of cold water in a small glass. Gradually add to the saucepan whilst stirring vigorously to avoid creating lumps. Simmer for a further 2 mins to ensure the flour is cooked off.
9. Serve with the GF pasta and parmesan cheese
10. Variations:
1. Make it sexy - Use prosciutto in place of the bacon to dress up this dish and add your choice of fresh Italian herbs such as basil or parsley finely chopped to the cream sauce in final 2 minutes of cooking.
2. Make it kiddie friendly – add ½ cup of grated cheese, omit the seeded mustard and use less garlic to suit the kids’ tastebuds.