Chicken Alfredo

My friend Christen introduced us to this recipe a couple of years ago, when her family had ours over for dinner. I loved it and had to have the recipe. Later, when I was pregnant with Ellia and in the throes of morning (all day) sickness, Christen brought over a big pan of it to help us out, as I couldn't cook to save my life.

I'm telling you what, for one reason or another, this was the one dish that I craved. After the initial dinner that the family shared, I claimed all the leftovers for my own and ate them every day for lunch for about 4 days. It was completely unexplainable, but I just HAD to have this dish. I nearly cried when I finished the last of it. No kidding.

When my mom came to help out for 3 weeks, she made it for me also......and again I ate it for days.

Now here's a kind of funny thing. Neither Grant or I like mushrooms much.....so the first time I made this, I left them out. We both regretted it. We had no idea why, but we missed the mushrooms. They add some dimension of flavor in there that just makes the recipe extra special.

Note: Original recipe called for browning the chicken breasts in oil first - I eliminated this step to save time and didn't notice a difference in the end result.

Another note: I have made this substituting evaporated milk for the cream to make it a bit lower in fat....and it worked out just fine. But the cream way is undeniably better.

One more note: The sauce seems to kind of disappear by the time the pasta is done - but don't worry, the flavors are all there enveloped in the pasta and it is so delicious!

Recipe:

3-4 chicken breasts (1.5 lbs)

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

2 T dried basil, OR 6 T. fresh basil, chopped (I used fresh from my garden!)

2 t. salt

1 cup heavy cream (or evaporated milk)

4 egg yolks

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

13.25 oz whole wheat linguine (or fettuccine)

8 oz fresh mushrooms, washed and chopped

Put chicken, onions, garlic, tomatoes, basil, and salt in the crockpot. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Remove chicken and shred.

Whisk together egg yolks, cream, and Parmesan cheese. Add to crockpot and stir to combine. Put chicken back in and cook on high for 30 minutes.

Cook pasta in salted, boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Drain and add to crockpot with mushrooms. Stir well and cook on high for another 30-60 minutes, or until linguine and mushrooms are tender. Add a little milk if it looks too dry.

Garnish with basil and Parmesan cheese, if desired.