chicken pasta rossa alla nordstrom café

Everyone I grew up with had a mom that periodically would take them to Nordstrom at “the good mall,” occasionally treating themselves to a mother-and-child lunch date at the Nordstrom Cafe (more for the mother than the child). Most of the shopping trips I remember, ones involving chenille sweaters and rain boots and Back To School and my screaming sister who wanted to go home, were punctuated right in the middle by this lunch, kicked off with a small warm bun and finished with chocolate mints in the check. Chicken Pasta Rossa was my order from ages 8-18.

There is only one photo I can find of the original, taken by a guy named Dan Greenstein on Twitter in 2014.

Then, for a long time, this was discontinued at Nordstrom, and they had another pasta that featured asparagus instead. I switched. But for some reason this ONE rogue Nordstrom store that I went to with my mom in 2010 kept it on the menu, corporate overlords be damned. Periodically I would get a craving for this specific pasta, remember it still existed in one lone outpost, call my mom to swindle her into buying me lunch, and then drive all the way out to the really, REALLY good mall (supposedly featured in Mean Girls; it wasn't) to stick it to the man.

Because it’s no longer Nordstrom canon, no recipe for it exists on the internet no. I knew it had bacon, spinach, mushrooms, chicken, and tomato basil cream sauce. I tracked down the signature fusili bucati, a tighter phone-cord style coil than you can get in a regular grocery store, just to make it. It took 3 tries. But this is as close as I’m going to get.

February 2023:

Man, I was WAY off. This was one of the first recipes I put online. I am the number one SEO rank for this dish. It is also, I’m realizing, NOT AT ALL like Nordstrom Cafe. I could tell just by rereading the directions. 8 years later, it’s time for some essential improvements!

Here’s what we’re doing:

  • Rather than use tomato purée, I now use a full 6 oz of tomato paste and white wine, the way I do with Pasta alla Boscaiola, which isn’t dissimilar.

  • I‘ve streamlined the steps to be more straightforward. You render the bacon fat, then cook each subsequent “layer”—chicken, mushrooms, aromatics—separately before rebuilding it into the pot.

  • I have cut the amount of cream down to just 1/8 of a cup, and added a tbsp. of butter for gloss.

  • I love mature spinach, so I use that here; it is more spinach-y in flavor and easier to chop than baby. Baby is still totally fine to use.

  • I’ve updated the dried herbs to fresh. This is just a preference!

This time, it was an exact match to memory—but also just really good all on its own, no mall nostalgia required.

RECIPE

Inspired by a former dish of the Nordstrom Cafe, Chicken Pasta Rossa is fusili bucati corti (a cute spiral shape) with roasted chicken, crispy bacon, spinach, and mushrooms in a velvety tomato cream sauce.

Effortful time: 30 minutes

Total time: 50 minutes

YOU NEED

  • 8 oz. bacon, cut into 1/2” strips

  • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

  • 1 medium shallot, finely diced

  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

  • 8 oz mushrooms, white or crimini, sliced

  • 6 tbsp. tomato paste

  • 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine

  • About 4 oz spinach, chopped

  • 1/8 cup cream

  • 1 tbsp. butter

  • 12 oz. dry fusili pasta (this here is Molisana fusili bucati, available on Amazon)

  • 1 small bunch of basil, chopped

  • Salt and pepper to taste

MAKE IT

  1. Cook the bacon. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the 1/2” bacon strips on low heat until the fat begins to render, about 2-3 minutes. This will give you cooking fat for the rest of the process. Continue cooking the bacon until crispy and fully browned, about 8 more minutes. Remove from skillet and let it hang out on a plate.

  2. Cook the chicken.Turn the heat on the skillet to medium-high. Sauté your cubed chicken breast, browning all sides, about 8 minutes total. It’s ok if it’s not totally done — it’s going to keep cooking. Remove this and let it hang out with its bacon friends.

  3. Sauté the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms and shallots to the bacon fat and sauté, stirring to coat, about 6 minutes or until the shrooms shrink to about 2/3 of their size. Remove and set aside.

  4. Start the pasta water right about now.

  5. Sauté the aromatics. Cook the shallots until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté 1 about 1 minute more. Now add the tomato paste and cook, crushing it into the fat to caramelize, 30 more seconds. If you’re looking dry / your bacon didn’t render enough fat, you can add a little olive oil.

  6. Deglaze with the white wine. Bring to a boil and then simmer 2-3 minutes until reduced.

  7. Build the sauce. Add everything back to the skillet. Lower the heat and stir to combine. Simmer this for 5 minutes before starting your pasta.

  8. Cook your pasta. Aim for a minute shy of al dente.

  9. Finish your sauce. When your pasta is 2 minutes from finished, add the cream and butter to the sauce and stir well, then heat at a low simmer until it begins to get thick and glossy. Add spinach, a handful at a time, until it’s wilted.

  10. Combine the pasta into the sauce. Reserve 1/2 cup of water. Transfer your pasta to the skillet and stir to coat. If the sauce looks dry, use some of that pasta water to loosen it up.

  11. Serve it up. Use cheese if you want. Just know that Nordstrom doesn’t.

pastaA @ italian enoughfall6 Comments