Talk about comfort food! This is one of my very favorites. Because it is so rich, and Ross has a bit of trouble with gout, I cut the sauce to pasta ratio way back and often add extra produce from my garden to fill it out. Here’s a few notes from my own kitchen:

COOKING THE CHICKEN

I absolutely love my Instant Pot. My very favorite thing about it is that I can toss a couple of frozen chicken breasts in with a little bit of water and walk away. The finished meat shreds like a dream and is so moist and delicious. You can’t make me go back.

Chicken in the instant pot can be as easy as frozen treats + water hit that poultry button and blamm0 - chicken. But generally I like to add a little extra something something like chicken stock, italian seasoning mix, basil or even a couple slices of lemon. experiment and have fun with it!

Do not open the instant pot until the cooking is complete and the pressure indicator has lowered. unlock and open the lid away from yourself. Use tongs to lift the chicken breasts out and place them on a cutting board with a paper towel. when the chicken is finished dripping, remove the paper towel and toss. Using forks, shred the chicken.

MUSHROOMS

I’m sure you know that commercial mushrooms grow in nothing but manure. That’s all fine and good with me, I grew up in a horse barn and regularly fed our garden with manure. That doesn’t mean I want to eat it! Commercial mushrooms are not washed before being packaged. Brushed off? A little, but the skin of the mushroom is so fragile that very little is done. So the ‘dirt’ on those mushrooms isn’t actually dirt - if you catch my drift.

All of this is tell you this: Don’t buy pre sliced mushrooms - they have not been washed! Most of the grocery stores in my town, and especially where I shop there are packed mushrooms and then a bin of bulk mushrooms with a stack of paper bags. Grab the bag! Pick out the best baby portabella mushrooms you can find (for me that’s the big ones). these mushrooms have not been packed tightly together, in styrofoam and plastic - aka waste.

Leave the in the paper bag until your are ready to cook. Then lightly wash under cool water, pull the stems out if you choose, although they are totally edible. You can cut them, slice them or my preference, just break them into pieces.

BRINGING THE SAUCE TOGETHER

I used to love the whisks I got from the restaurant supply store. They are strong and sturdy, they didn’t bend out of shape or rust in the dishwasher. I would whisk the crap out of the butter and cream until it came together. Then I dumped all of our Teflon cookware and went to only enamel and ceramic coated cookware - so metal utensils in these pots are a life sentence crime! Now I use a wooden spoon and you know what - it works just fine. Butter and cream don’t want to mix, and it will take a little bit of work for it to come together, just keep making small circles while working around the perimeter of your pot. I like to use my dutch oven because I have a lot of surface area to work the sauce

ADDING GARDEN PRODUCE

Whether I’m planning to ditch the pasta or not, I love to add more veggies I find in the garden: zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, onion, brussels sprouts, broccoli, tomatoes, fresh basil leaves - really anything! This is a really great dish for sun-dried tomatoes too if you have some in your pantry.

MAKE IT KETO FRIENDLY

There was a time before I had my last baby that I crashed a keto diet to bring my weight down before pregnancy (I gain so much weight in those 40 weeks). I wanted a head start. I never tried to cook myself something separate, or force my family and growing children to go without the carbs, so I usually would make a small modification to the meal so I could eat what I was cooking. In this case, I would take my portion of the chicken and sauce mix out of the pot before mixing it all in with the pasta. I roasted some brussels sprouts or spiraled some zucchini for zoodles and would enjoy it all the same!