Cook up 6-8 oz. of your favorite thin spaghetti, to al dente. Drain, saving about a cup of the starchy pasta water, rinse in cold water to chill, then drain again, sprinkle on 1T dried parsley, and set aside.
A lot of home cooks and chefs swear the only way to serve pasta is piping hot, fresh drained, just after cooking. However, after reading articles such as ~this~, I now cook, drain and chill it, before reheating to serve it the first time.
Begin by sautéing the following over low-medium heat, for just a few minutes, until the chicken looses its pink color. Usually, truffle-infused EVOO should be only a finishing oil, but if you keep the heat low, definitely well under its smoke point, you can impart wonderful truffle flavor to dishes.
8 oz. small pieces of chicken
~or shrimp~ add these later*
a little of chopped purple shallot
1 clove or so of the sliced garlic
fresh ground black pepper
2-3T truffle-infused EVOO
Next add 8 oz. of mushrooms, continuing to stir and sauté a couple minutes. Add a couple ounces of the pasta water then cover, and let it steam on low heat. When it's sizzled a bit, remove the cover, turn up the heat and let it cook until half the cooking liquid is evaporated. Add the *(shrimp) rest of the chopped shallot, garlic, zest and juice of 1 lemon.
After the garlic turns translucent, continue to evaporate the liquid, lightly browning everything. Add a little more of the cooking water and 1/3c of chopped olives and 1/3c of drained capers. Stir, shut off the heat and cover for a few minutes before adding the pasta to the pan and combining it.
Now combine 3-4oz. of hot pasta water with 1T chicken Better Than Bouillon. When that dissolves and cools a bit, stir it together with 1/2c sour cream. Pour this over everything in the pan, bring it to a bubble for just a minute or two, to thicken the sauce, cover and turn off the heat for a minute before serving. Sprinkle with a little half-sharp Hungarian paprika for a little pop of color and spicy-peppery heat.
I have other food for dinner tonight, but made this today since my lemons and mushrooms were starting to look tired.
This will taste much better chilled and reheated tomorrow, when eaten for the first time. . .Lin
