Truffle Cacio e Pepe Fettuccine with Seared Chicken

Fettuccine with seared chicken, blistered Campari tomatoes, and broccolini. Jarred TRUFF cacio e pepe alfredo, bloomed pepper, cheese off heat. Three hearty portions, or four moderate. About 35 minutes active.

Ingredients

• 1.25 lb (567 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1¼ tsp kosher salt
• 6 oz (170 g) dried fettuccine
• 8 Campari tomatoes, halved
• 8 oz (227 g) broccolini or broccoli florets
• 1½ tbsp kosher salt, for the pasta water
• 10 oz (283 g) TRUFF Cacio e Pepe Alfredo sauce, about two-thirds of the jar
• 60 g Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1½ tsp black peppercorns, coarsely cracked
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 60 ml dry white wine
• 1 lemon, zested and halved
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Equipment

• Large skillet
• Large pot

Method

1. Fill a large pot with 4 quarts of water, add the pasta-water salt, and bring to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, mince the shallot, slice the garlic, grate the cheese, zest the lemon, and halve the tomatoes. Once you start searing you will not have time.
2. Butterfly, split, or pound the chicken to an even ¾ inch. Pat aggressively dry with paper towels, then season all over with the kosher salt. Let sit at room temperature while the pan heats. A dry surface browns. Wet chicken steams.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Lay the cutlets down away from you and do not move them for 5 minutes. Flip once, cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until an instant-read thermometer reads 160°F at the thickest point. Transfer to a cutting board.
4. In the same hot pan, lay the tomatoes cut side down in a single layer. Leave them alone until charred and collapsing, then salt lightly and set aside in a bowl. Do not stir them. You want char, not stew. The chicken rests while this happens, and carryover brings it to 165°F.
5. Lower heat to medium. Add the cracked pepper to the pan and toast 30 seconds until fragrant, then add the butter and let it foam. Add shallot and garlic, cook until softened and barely golden. Pour in the wine and scrape the pan bottom clean with a wooden spoon, reducing until nearly dry.
6. Drop the fettuccine into the boiling water. With 3 minutes left, add the broccolini directly to the same pot. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water before draining. Pasta should come out 2 minutes shy of box tenderness.
7. Turn heat to low. Add the jarred sauce and the lemon zest. Warm gently until steaming, never bubbling. Boiling drives off the truffle aroma and leaves you with plain cream.
8. Add the drained pasta and broccolini to the skillet with ½ cup pasta water. Toss constantly with tongs over low heat, adding water a splash at a time, until the sauce is glossy and clinging rather than thick and pasty.
9. Kill the heat. Rain in the grated cheese while tossing so it melts smoothly instead of seizing. Fold in the blistered tomatoes and any juices. Taste, add a small squeeze of lemon, adjust salt only if needed. Slice the rested chicken against the grain, fan it over the top, finish with parsley and a final crack of pepper.

Notes

• Split huge breasts into two cutlets rather than butterflying one unwieldy piece. Pound to even ¾ inch with the flat side of a mallet, a rolling pin, or a skillet, glancing outward from the center. Straight-down blows tear the meat. Skip the toothed side of the mallet.
• Pull the chicken at 160°F. Carryover finishes it. 175°F is chalk.
• Cheese over direct heat seizes. Off heat, always. Skipping pasta water gives a pasty coating instead of a glossy emulsion.
• The jar is salty and pecorino is saltier. Pasta-water salt is light on purpose. Taste before adding salt at the end.
• No wine: deglaze with a splash of pasta water. Tested with mirin, Aug 2026: 2 teaspoons of mirin in place of the 60 ml of wine. Worked. No extra acid beyond the lemon at the finish. If you scale mirin past about 1 tablespoon, reduce it until dry and add acid back (extra lemon, or 1 tsp rice vinegar). Cheap aji-mirin is corn syrup plus salt, so taste before salting at the end.
• No broccolini: asparagus, green beans, or zucchini half-moons, timings differ. Frozen peas go in during the last 60 seconds only.
• Pecorino is the cacio e pepe cheese and cuts the cream. It is sharp and salty on top of an already salty jar. Split half and half if unsure.
• Hold back the last third of the jar unless the pan looks dry after the vegetables go in. Tomatoes and broccolini both release water.
• Stretching to four: everything holds except the chicken drops to 5 oz raw per person.