Chicken, pancetta and mushrooms

Today was another high school milestone.  We went shopping for our daughters senior prom dress.  The shopping choices went from over crowded speciality shop with at least an hour wait for a dressing room to several mall stores where you could just walk right in and grab a dressing room.  Maybe not the 1000 dresses to choose from, but a great selection of dresses that make a beautiful little girl into a beautiful young women.

Even at the mall we found some of the dresses that were at the overcrowded prom shop, probably at better prices too!    Our little girl will look stunning with her final selection. When we started shopping she was leaning towards a dress that was very similar to last years, but in the end she picked a winner and made a fabulous selection. Sorry, you have to wait two months to see it!

While we were leaving the mall I was browsing Facebook and came across a recipe from Cooking Light for chicken with pancetta and peas.  It looked really good and pretty easy to make.  I showed it to hubby and we agreed that our dinner had been selected.  All we needed to do was head to the grocery store and pick up some of the ingredients.  Before we left he was browsing the reviews and someone had mentioned adding mushrooms.   That was a pretty easy add for us. Knowing that the pancetta and the garlic had to be sautéd we decided that the mushrooms could follow as just one more step.  So here is our version of Cooking Light's Chicken with pancetta and peas.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 ounces pancetta, chopped
• 8 oz. baby Bella mushrooms sliced
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 
• 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson)
• 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
• 2 tablespoons water 
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour 
• 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed 
• Jasmine rice as a starch

Preparation

1. 1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove garlic from pan using a slotted spoon; reserve garlic. Increase heat to medium-high. Add pancetta; sauté 4 minutes or until crisp. Remove pancetta from pan using a slotted spoon; reserve pancetta. Add mushrooms and sauté until tender.  Remove mushrooms with slotted spoon and save. 
2. 2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; sauté 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan. Add wine; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until the liquid almost evaporates (about 3 minutes). Return chicken to pan. Add stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 6 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan.
3. 3. Add mascarpone to pan, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Combine water and flour, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes; stir in pancetta, garlic, mushrooms and peas. Cook 1 minute. Serve sauce over chicken and rice.