Preview: Penne Mediterranean

I have only two words to describe this dish...."rock star". That's both what it tastes like and what you'll be when you serve this to guests.

This is my first try at your recipes and this was an awesome one. It was delicious, different and not difficult to make. BUT I did not reduce the liquid enough so I certainly did not need any of the pasta liquid. I find it difficult to judge "reduce by a third/half whatever" and never know it we are talking 10 minutes or an hour. I think it depends on the size of the pan, but I need to work on that. Loved the chunky mushrooms (I have always sliced them finer and these are so much better). I was amazed at how little pasta made this a meal. I would have used way more, so I am learning that less can be much better. We have lunch for the two of us tomorrow, which is great...
I can't wait to try another couple of recipes on the weekend.

I made this one the other night and thought we were going to have leftovers for at least 2 days ... yeah right! It disappeared that same day!! A really good dish with a lot of flavor.
Thanks!!

I have made this a few times and the family loves it. This will be a regular dish for us.

I don't always have White Wine around. What would be a good substitute for it?

You could leave it out all together, especially since there is chicken stock already. You could also add a teaspoon or so of white wine vinegar for the little punch of acid, which is what the white wine would have done. All in all though, I think you would be okay to leave it out.

I made this dish for family and guests last night at the cottage, and it was a huge success. I have to say, as I was cooking, I wondered where, exactly, the Mediterranean flavour would come from. There was nothing exotic about the ingredients. I threw in an extra pinch of chili flakes because I like some spice, and added some shrimp at the last minute, and the end result was fantastic. The flavour was subtle at first, but halfway through, my mouth was filled with this incredible taste. Even the kids gobbled it up. I'll make this one again.

Really a great dish to impress your friends. The key is to 'prep' all ingredients (ok, 'mise en place' as learned on Rouxbe), before guests arrive. Instead of 'slaving' in the kitchen by myself, I decided it would be fun to entertain there (after all, that's where the wine fridge is). This is not only fun to cook, but is truly delicious. I served it on a large platter, which was devoured with pleasure.

Love doing pasta family style as well. Fun for all. Easy for the cook. Platter it up! Glad you liked it.

I made last sunday,was so good,my husband loves pasta,and for him was amazing,i can not wait to try another recipes
thanks!!!!!!!!!

I just finished washing up from making this and although it didn't turn out entirely as I expected, it ended up being pretty good.

First of all not being a mushroom fan I subbed in some snow pees for the mushrooms. After I let the stock reduce for a while, I still had WAY too much juice in the bottom of the pasta with the chicken. After I had put the chicken back in, and added the pasta (and let it reduce for another 5 minutes) I spooned out the stock and kept in the pan. I had opted to use goats cheese as opposed to feta so crumbled a bunch over top and tossed so that the cheese melted and coated the pasta.

Ended up OK though not necessarily as planned. If I had a do-over, I'd add the snow pees near the end. Nice one!

I'll admit I was a bit hesitant to try this and thought the stock based sauce might be a bit bland. Boy was I wrong. I used a good goat feta and reduced the sauce a bit more than by a third and it certainly wasn't dry, but not runny either. Nice to have sundried tomatoes again too. Darned near perfect. Thanks for this!

This is the first recipe that I have made from this site.

It is a really nice combination, and the prep time was really minimal. I also added shrimp to this (chopped prwns), and I can't say that it made that much of a difference.

I also added more feta than called for, because it appeared sparse before eating. I was right, as far as my tastes are concerned. Next time, I will add more tomoatoes, but this really is a nice recipe.

I have cooked it. Should it be salty? I only add salt to taste. any advice...

First and foremost, it should taste good, not salty. If it is properly seasoned it shouldn't really taste very salty, as the salt is really used to bring out the flavors of the ingredients.

Did you use homemade stock? Was the feta you used salty? Where any of the other ingredients you used overly salty? These are all things to consider. I would suggest that perhaps you also watch the How to Season with Salt Lesson. Cheers!

I have to bring a meal in one pot to a family event, I wanted something lighter than the usual lasagna and wonder if this would work. Perhaps cook the pasta to a tough "el dente"? Prepare it in my dutch oven and reheat it?

Your thoughts and ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

The flavors in this dish will be fine, but reheated pasta is usually never as good (or as pretty) as when it is cooked and then served immediately. If this dish sits overnight, it will soak up much of the stock-based sauce. I wouldn't under cook the pasta too much - that would mean that you'll need more time during reheating. You'll likely have to add more stock to finish cooking and loosen the noodles. You also may run the risk of overcooking the chicken if the noodles take too long. You might also want to add the feta just before serving. Good luck, hope it works out!

Your right, too many risks and no one likes soggy pasta. I will make the sauce and chicken in advance. I can make the pasta onsite and add the feta then.

Ah, better solution. Have a fun gathering!

I'm a first time poster and beginning cook, so I'm admittedly not too creative in the kitchen yet. I'm not a fan of mushrooms - can someone suggest a suitable replacement?

If you do not like mushrooms, you can simply leave them out. If you happen to like artichokes, you could add some marinated artichokes near the end. Really you can add anything you like to personalize this dish to your liking. Cheers!

I used homemade vegetable stock in this recipe instead of the store bought chicken stock I used the first time. The dish was outstanding both times but we preferred it with the homemade stock. I just need to make a chicken stock to give that a try. Excellent recipe! I also used rigatoni instead of penne and it worked well.

Also forgot to add that I deglazed with MGD (Miller Geniune Draft) Beer because I didn't have any white wine. Turned out great!

This is the first one I tried of your recipes. I really thought I knew how to cook pasta - boy was I wrong! Everything tasted so different and so much better!

This was so good and easy. It was even better for lunch the next day.