Gypsy's Trattoria Italiana Godfather's Favorite Pasta

This one is for my Cal people and anyone who has been to Gypsy's Trattoria Italiano in the Asian Ghetto.

For those of you who have no clue about the Ghetto, it is a food court of low cost college food that caters to the students of South side. While the quality isn't the best, it's open late, has a wide variety of food and is just part of the Cal college experience.

At Gypsy's, I only ever get one thing: the Godfather's Favorite. Now that I am out of school, I cant just pop over to Gypsy's when the craving happens. Well last week I was in the mood and decided to recreate my favorite dish.

While the recipe was not an exact copy-cat, it worked out well and definitely hit the spot.

Process

I began by checking the menu at Gypsy's which states I need chicken, pancetta, egg, Parmigiano cheese and penne pasta. I pretty much stuck to this outline sans the egg and used wheat penne. I also used Parmesan cheese rather than Parmigiano-Reggiano mainly due to cost (see $10+/lb).

I first started to heat up some water to for the pasta and then started cooking the pancetta in a skillet. While the pasta was cooking (if you do not know how to cook pasta, read the back of the box), I set the cooked pancetta aside and began cooking the chicken in the same skillet. I only used a little olive oil and pepper to season the chicken. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.

After the butter is melted, add in the heavy cream. Let the cream simmer until thick. This takes about five minutes. The cream is ready when it coats the back of the spoon without dripping. Slowly add the Parmesan cheese so it melts evenly. Bring the sauce to a boil and add in the rest of the spices.

About at the same time, the chicken and pasta should be done. The chicken can be cut into strips and added into the sauce. I crumbled the pancetta in at the same time as the chicken. Finally, I mixed in the pasta and tossed to coat. Shaved Parmesan and freshly ground pepper were used to garnish.

Gypsy's Trattoria Italiana Godfather's Favorite Pasta

Ingredients

8 oz pancetta
2 chicken breasts
1 lb penne pasta, wheat
2 cups Parmesan cheese, shaved
5 T butter, unsalted
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 T pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
Kosher salt

Directions

1. Heat up water to a boil and cook pasta according to package. Cook pancetta in skillet and set aside. Place a little oil in the skillet and begin to pan-fry th chicken, adding pepper to taste.
2. In a separate saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add in cream and simmer until thick (should coat back of spoon).
3. Slowly add in cheese to melt evenly and bring the sauce to a boil. Add in the pepper, nutmeg and a pinch of salt.
4. When the chicken is ready, cut in strips and add to the sauce. Crumble in the pancetta. Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve immediately. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and pepper.