JTS.fyi

Loaded [Diet] Chicken Alfredo (Chicken/Mushroom/Pork)

Ingredients

1 Lb Fettuccine
1.5-2Lb Boneless/Skinless Chicken Thighs
12oz Cured Salt Pork (1 package usually), sliced and diced, half inch pieces or less - cut of the rind (or alternatively, you could cut the rind into thin short strips or bits and fry it crispy)
8-12oz of shredded or grated Parmesan Cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano is best)
16oz / 1quart Heavy Cream (Try get the one without chemicals, just pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized)
1 Bundle of Parsley (curly or flat, whatever) - chop it just before adding to pot
3 Tablespoons all purpose (wheat) flour
1 whole garlic - sliced or chopped
1 medium/large onion - diced
8-12oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced/pieces
1/4 cup of butter (1 stick)
16 cups (4 quarts) of water, to boil pasta, and pasta water to be used further
Some salt - prefer Kosher as it is easier to not overdo it
lots of fresh ground pepper
a few pinches of crushed dry roesmary (fresh would work, but chop it up, remove stem)
1 Beer or Glass of wine of choice - for the cook while cooking

Standard Operating Procedure

I recommend reading through this to understand what you be doing - it could have been written simpler without any parallelism, but i tried to write it the way i do it.

Start your pastawater - salted. I usually use a larger pot, to make the roux in and combine it all later - i usually also have a pinch of pepper in the pastawater
Salt/pepper your chicken thighs - and a pinch of rosemary to each
Start cooking your chicken in a skillet on medium/high heat, you want good caramelization. (I do most of my skillet cooking in a large cast iron pan). Chicken does NOT have to be fully cooked, as that will happen below)
Cook the pasta - make sure it is very al-dente, as it will cook further in the sauce
Drain pasta, KEEP 9 CUPS OF THE PASTA WATER, it will be used below. Set pasta aside for now
Put 9'ish cups of the pastawater in a pot, same pot is fine
Add half your garlic and half your onion to the water
Put your browned chicken in the water and boil
Needs to boil for at least 10 minutes - usually it takes me 15-20 minutes for the skillet-cooking below, that would be a good amount - idea is to make the water be a thin stock
In your frying pan, medium/high heat - crisp up your Salt Pork - add pepper
When pork starts crisping - add the mushroom pieces - let it start getting crispy (takes a bit of time and heat) - add pepper
When mushrooms start getting crispy - add the rest of your onion to start browning it - add pepper
Remove Chicken from stock - set stock aside
Dice up chicken and put in the skillet - add pepper
Add rest of garlic to skillet - can be done earlier, just watch not to burn it
Start a Roux in a large pot (same pot as pasta/chicken is fine), melt butter, add the flour and whisk. Add the stock to it, except half a cup for deglazing below - whisk/stir for a smooth sauce. Boil it
Turn off skillet heat - add half a cup of stock to it - deglaze the pan - add pepper
When pot/sauce has boiled for at least 5 minutes - add heavy cream, add all the Parmesan cheese, bring to a near boil
Add skillet content - add the pasta - stir together - reduce heat
Taste test - pending on ingredients, you may need to add salt, but do not do so without tasting. Add pepper to liking (i probably use about 5 tablespoons total for this dish layered throughout)
Add chopped parsley
If consistency is a bit thin, let it boil for a few minutes - if it is a bit thick, add water/cream (or chicken stock) - just stir the bottom and watch the heat as it tends to stick and set.

That should do it - serve with your favorite hot and fresh rolls or bread, and a glass of Red wine.