Carissa
Sunday is a great day for cooking here on the home front. It’s the day that I get to spend with the kids in the kitchen creating tasty things for a big dinner or sweet treats for the busy week ahead.
I wanted to do a twist on the traditional cream sauce to go with some leftover stuffed ravioli from a previous recipe post. Chicken sounded like a fantastic pairing with it, so I simmered chicken tenderloin strips with enough broth in the bottom of the pan to keep them from drying out while cooking. Sprinkled with some Italian herb seasoning, salt, pepper garlic power and onion powder flipped once to brown both sides and wrapped them up to keep them warm while building the sauce.
I started by sauteing two 16oz cans of baby Bella mushrooms and pulled them just as I had rendered the moisture from them without letting it cook at this time. With the butter and mushroom liquid still fresh I whipped together the roux. If you have questions about the roux please look to my previous article about mac and cheese, the gooey details can be found there.
Once the roux had been prepared, I added equal parts of milk and cream(three and three for us but if you are feeding less people you can decrease that).
While the base of the sauce was being brought back up to temperature, in a mini chopper I combines two tablespoons of minced garlic that was roasted previously with a tablespoon of olive oil and ¼ cup of cream and blended until smooth and then added it to the sauce. Finally, add butter with two cups of mixed Italian shredded cheese. Stir this until the cheese is entirely melted and incorporated.
Serve sauce, chicken, and mushrooms with the ravioli for a fantastic dinner!
