This Chicken Tagliatelle Alfredo is the traditional Fettuccine Alfredo with a twist. The great thing about traditional recipes is, that you can make minor changes without messing up the core; without changing the essence of the dish. My adaptations were minor as well; I used tagliatelle instead of fettuccine and simmered the chicken in broth rather than cooking in butter or oil.
The result is an extremely moist chicken with a rich and flavorful sauce. Granted, the chicken does not have the brown marks, nor is it crunchy on the outside, but it is actually more flavorful all the way through, rather than just the outside.
I read all about Fettuccine Alfredo not being Italian, or not being a dish you will ever find in a restaurant in Italy. The story goes that a restaurant owner, Alfredo, made pasta in bianco for his pregnant wife who couldn’t keep anything down; pasta in bianco is pasta with butter.
I have also read that this pasta in bianco was used in more Italian families than just Alfredo’s as a remedy against an upset stomach. Whatever the story, Fettuccine Alfredo with all its derivations is here to stay. This may or may not be a true traditional recipe, from the ‘old country’, but traditions can also be built in the ‘new country’, especially when that new country is more than 240 years old.
How to prepare Chicken Tagliatelle Alfredo?
Cook chicken breast in chicken broth and then allow the chicken to rest in the broth for another 10 minutes. This is like a warm wet brine. The broth that is used to cook the chicken will be the basis of your sauce. Add cream, garlic and eggs to the sauce as well as cheese, parsley and salt and pepper. The yolks and cheese will bind the sauce together in absence of a starch, like flour or corn starch.
Then cook the pasta. If I can, I always prefer to use fresh pasta, fresh tagliatelle in this case. It is a little more expensive, you cannot keep it as long as dry pasta, but it is so quick to prepare that you can almost start with the pasta once you’re done with the sauce.
Slice the chicken, add to the sauce, just to warm it up a little if needed. Plate pasta and chicken and sprinkle with parsley and cheese if you like.
Chicken Tagliatelle Alfredo
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 8 ounces chicken breast without skin
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 garlic minced
- 1 egg yolk
- 6 ounces fresh tagliatelle
- parsley chopped
- 1 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Bring the chicken broth and chicken breast to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the chicken to sit in the stock for another 10 minutes.
- Take the chicken out of the broth and wrap in aluminum foil to keep warm.
- Bring the chicken broth back to a boil and reduce the broth by half. Add the cream and garlic and bring back to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Beat the egg yolk in a boil, add some of the broth/cream mixture and mix thoroughly. Add more broth until yolk/broth mixture is warm, mix thoroughly.
- Add yolk mixture to remaining broth/cream mixture and warm the egg.
- Add cheese and parsley and season with salt and pepper.
- Cook pasta according to directions on packaging and drain.
- Slice chicken thinly and add to sauce.
- Add pasta to sauce and plate after 1 minute.
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