Rigatoni with chicken and creamy mushroom sauce

With 16 days (or less) until the arrival of my baby, my motivation comes and goes. Some days the nesting instinct is on a warpath and I'm cleaning everything in sight. Other days my swollen ankles leave me curled on the couch. The same goes for cooking. Last night I was a bit more motivated (I made pan-roasted duck breasts with farro risotto and caramelized figs - watch this space for the recipe). Aside from saying it was a great dinner, my fabulous husband said the nicest thing possible: "I don't know many women who would make this dinner 2 weeks before having a baby." Made my day!!!

Some days, I want to prepare big batches of stuff I can freeze for after baby's arrival. Other days, I'm more likely to take the path of least resistance. This recipe is quick and simple, and as you'll see from the picture, my 2-year-old liked it (though she picked out most of the mushrooms), which meant I only had to make one meal to feed all of us.



Rigatoni with chicken and creamy mushroom sauce
Adapted from Giada at Home by Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients
1/2 pound rigatoni pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound assorted mushrooms, (such as cremini, shiitake and button), cleaned and sliced
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup (4 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

While the water heats and pasta cooks:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then add to the pan. Cook chicken until lightly browned on all sides and cooked through. Remove from pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the shallots and garlic to the pan, adding a little more olive oil if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the heat to high. Add the wine and cook for 3 minutes until all the liquid evaporates. Add the stock and reserved chicken simmer until liquid is slightly reduced. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the mascarpone cheese. Stir until creamy. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water, and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the mushroom mixture and the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss well to coat pasta, adding the reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Garnish with the chopped chives. Serve immediately.

Spring in action: Lemon mascarpone layer cake

The coming of Spring means different things to different people. In our family it means a lot of celebrating. There's Easter, Mother's Day, and birthdays galore. Both of my nieces have Spring birthdays, as does my brother-in-law. This year was a perfect storm of sorts with Easter falling on my brother-in-law's birthday and just 3 days after my youngest niece's 1st birthday.

Easter weekend - always full of food and treats - was especially celebratory this year. We attended a 1st birthday party for little Catie on Saturday with 2 cakes and then my sister baked a cake on Sunday for her husband's birthday. Her lemon mascarpone layer cake was a hit with everyone and the lemon was perfect for an unseasonably warm Spring day.

Given how yummy this cake was and how beautiful, I thought we'd give a guest spot to my sister for today's post. I plan to file this recipe away for future use so it only seemed fitting to share it with everyone. Enjoy!

Note well, to save time, you can substitute good quality store-bought lemon curd for the homemade. You'll need about 16 ounces.



Lemon Mascarpone Layer Cake
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Lemon curd
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Cake

6 large eggs, separated

14 tablespoons sugar

1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Filling and frosting
2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
3 8-ounce containers chilled mascarpone cheese

For lemon curd:

Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Whisk constantly until thickened and instant-read thermometer inserted into mixture registers 160°F, about 10 minutes. Remove bowl from over water. Add butter; whisk until melted. Transfer 1 cup curd to small bowl for spreading on cake layers. Reserve remaining curd for filling. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of both curds. Chill overnight. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

For cake:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line bottom of two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with parchment paper. Using electric mixer (hand mixer recommended here since you'll need it for several different items, and a stand mixer with only one bowl would be problematic) beat egg yolks and 7 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until mixture is very thick and slowly dissolving ribbons form when beaters are lifted, about 4 minutes. Using clean and dry beaters, beat whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add remaining 7 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff and glossy, at least another 4 minutes. Fold half of whites into yolk mixture, then sift half of flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt over and gently fold in until incorporated. Fold in remaining whites, then sift remaining flour over and fold in just until combined, being careful not to deflate batter.

Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool in pans on racks.

Run knife around edge of pans to loosen cakes. Invert cakes onto rack, tapping on work surface if necessary to release cakes. Cut each cake horizontally in half (layers will be thin). Peel off parchment and set layers aside while you make the syrup and filling.

For syrup:
Place sugar in small metal bowl. Add 1/3 cup boiling water; stir to dissolve sugar. Stir in lemon juice.

For filling and frosting:
Beat cream and sugar in large bowl until peaks form. Add mascarpone to lemon curd in medium bowl; whisk until well blended. Fold whipped cream into lemon-mascarpone mixture.

Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Brush with syrup (do not drench the cake). Spread a thin layer of lemon curd over it, then about 1 cup lemon-mascarpone filling. Top with second cake layer; brush with syrup and spread with lemon curd and 1 cup lemon-mascarpone filling. Repeat with third cake layer, syrup, lemon curd, and filling. Top with fourth cake layer. Brush with syrup, then spread lemon curd over. Spread the lemon-mascarpone filling over the cake top and sides to coat it (like a crumb coat). Fill pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch star tip (to be used for rosettes) with filling. Pipe small rosettes of frosting over top of cake, covering completely. Spread remaining lemon-mascarpone filling as a frosting over sides of cake until covered. You may not use all of the filling so keep it for another use if you want. Refrigerate at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.If your filling is too soft to pipe the rosettes, just put the bowl of filling in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes until it firms up a bit.

Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving.