Jolly Mushrooms and Those Special Occasions

Special Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta with mushrooms is perfect for celebrations at home

We can’t deny that we Filipinos love to celebrate and in all of our special occasions food becomes the center of attraction.

Now that my birthday is fast approaching, family and close friends are super excited to come and celebrate with me. And of course they can’t help but request my ultimate pasta dish made even more special with Jolly mushrooms.

The truth of the matter is, with every birthdays and parties at home I always prepare dishes with Jolly products. It could be my little boy’s favorite Beef Stroganoff or the Chicken Pastel that my mom raves about. But the most popular of all is the Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta which I can cook easily with my own recipe version using jolly mushrooms.

Honestly, I seldom abide by recipe books or use recipe guides since I am the type of cook that can prepare dishes according to what’s available or to what taste or flavor I have in mind at the moment. I can say that I am blessed with a little skill in executing the dish that I want just by following my instinct and sensitive palate.

My last year's birthday celebration

My humble last birthday spread for my closest friends highlighting Penne Pesto Pasta with mushrooms

So in a week or two I’ll be serving again the blockbuster dish of our home parties and without further ado I hereby present the easiest and probably the most practical recipe for CREAMY PENNE PESTO PASTA with MUSHROOMS….

Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta with Jolly Mushrooms in 6 easy steps

*Serving is for 10 to 15 persons

*Preparation time- 30 to 40 minutes

 

Penne Pesto with mushrooms INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package of Dona Elena Penne Rigate pasta 500 grams 
• ½ cup or 5 ounces of Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
• 1 Jolly Creamy Mushroom Soup 298 grams can 
• 1 Jolly Mushrooms whole 198 grams (or sliced)- slice into thin pieces if whole 
• 2 All-Purpose Cream 250 grams 
• 100 grams Pepperoni slices (or Italian sausage)- cut the pepperoni slices into 4 
• 1 Chicken picho medium size (or 2 chicken breasts) 
• 3 tbsps. of crushed garlic (adjust according to taste) 
• ½ cup dried Basil leaves (or fresh chopped leaves) 
• right amount of Jolly Claro cooking oil for sautéing 
• 2 pcs. chicken cubes for added flavor 
• Parmesan cheese  
• 2 cups of water 
• salt and white pepper

Cooking Procedures:

Step 1- Boil chicken in 2 cups of water. Shred the chicken meat and keep the stock. Set aside.

Step 2—Make pesto sauce by mixing basil with Dona Elena olive oil in a blender. On medium speed blend until smooth. You can add more basil if you want stronger pesto flavor. Make sure that you have enough olive oil to make a smooth blend. The trick is keep a ratio of 1:1.

Step 3- Cook Dona Elena Penne Rigate according to package instructions.

Step 4- Prepare skillet for sautéing by heating enough cooking oil. Lightly sauté garlic until you can smell the garlicky aroma. Add shredded chicken meat and pepperoni slices sauté lightly. Then mix in the sliced Dona Elena mushrooms cook it in a minute or 2. Set aside.

Step 5- Cooking the sauce- in a large pot mix together the chicken stock, Dona Elena cream of mushroom and water. Bring to a boil then add the chicken cubes once dissolved lower the temperature to medium and add in the all-purpose cream. Keep on stirring to maintain proper consistency. Add in the pesto sauce, salt and pepper and simmer for a minute. Then add the sautéed pepperoni, chicken meat and mushrooms to the mixture. Simmer some more to bring out the flavor. Adjust thickness by adding some water.

Steps 6- In the large pot with sauce add the precooked Dona Elena penne pasta. Stir carefully until pasta is fully covered in sauce. You can also add more salt and pepper to adjust the flavor according to your preference. Add more water to the mixture if needed. A few tablespoons of parmesan cheese is good too. Now enjoy Dona Elena penne pesto pasta served with parmesan on top.

This easy to make penne pasta recipe is so flexible there are varieties of options that you can make to suit your taste. You can either use shrimps, squid meat, or salmon instead of chicken. In lieu of pepperoni, bacon or ham will work well with seafood. Penne pasta can be replaced by any of the Dona Elena pasta products just follow the cooking directions.

For cheese lovers you can add a variety of grated cheese in the sauce while cooking. And one budget trick for this Dona Elena paste recipe is to substitute all-purpose cream with evaporated milk; you can definitely save a lot without sacrificing the taste. If you are concern with the sauce consistency you can dissolve a bit of cornstarch and toss it on the sauce while cooking.

Hope you learned something in this recipe and start discovering the joys of cooking with Jolly mushrooms and other Fly Ace products. 

Increase your cooking possibilities by checking out all the food products from the Fly Ace Corporation official website. You could also like Jolly foods (and mushrooms) and DonaElena on Facebook for more tips and updates.

Bon Appetit