Back in the 90s, in another time and a previous career, my favorite Los Angeles area restaurant was Indigo on Third Street, near the Farmer’s Market. It was the first restaurant where I had a house account (I would sign the check and Indigo would send me a bill at the end of the month; I thought I was so cool!!!) My husband threw my 39th birthday party there, taking over the entire restaurant on New Year’s Eve.
Doing business in Los Angeles required lots of lunches and Indigo was my “go-to” place – at least twice a week; sometimes every week day. And I always ordered the same dish. It was a chicken and pasta dish with a creamy, very spicy sauce. This was many years before my cheese nerd career and even though I was into cooking back then… well… sorta, kinda… because I could get this dish pretty much whenever I wanted it, I never thought to ask for the recipe.
Indigo has long been out of business; we left SoCal in the late 00s and the dish is a distant memory… but every once in a while it pops into my head and I smile, wishing I could head to Indigo and have it one more time.
Last week, while strategizing with Blue Haven Bee/Southern Origin Meadery about our new Cheese and Mead/Wine Subscription service (which they like to refer to as “Mead/Wine and Cheese” subscription service, as if mead or wine were more important than cheese… with all due respect…), the owners gave me a bag of an organic pasta they carry: Montebello from Italy. In researching this pasta, I found the following information at vitacost.com:
“Montebello is an Italian classic…a true artisan pasta that uses long forgotten Old World techniques to create distinctive flavor and texture. Durum wheat semolina is organically grown on a small cooperative of family farms in the rolling hills overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The semolina is then carefully ground and combined with pure mountain spring water to produce a fine dough, which is extruded through bronze dies to create a rough texture. Instead of flash drying, the artisans of Montebello dry their prized pasta slowly. These old world practices produce a delicious, small batch pasta with a uniquely porous texture that cooks to al dente every time and holds sauces beautifully.
Montebello is pretty damned close to being as good as homemade pasta. It is now my first choice when using a dry pasta. Because it’s imported and organic, it’s a little pricier than your average run-of-the-mill pasta that you find on your local grocery store aisle, but it’s worth it. If you cook with superior food products, your finished dish is worth the extra investment.
You can purchase a selection of Montebello pastas by clicking here.
I use organic chicken, ground turkey and hamburger; I buy prime beef (we don’t eat a lot of red meat, but when I want a tenderloin, I want it to be great); I buy my eggs and lamb from local farmers; I buy local or grow most of my fruits and vegetables. I’m far from wealthy, but I realize the quality of the food and knowing its source is more important now than ever before.
Back to the dish… on Saturday, I was talking with one of my regular clients who loves spicy food; the spicier the better. I told him about this Indigo dish and how at one lunch, my lunch partner’s bald head began profusely sweating while eating it. We both laughed but agreed, if you don’t sweat, it’s not hot enough. Sadly, The Man does not share my love of spicy food. He likes a tiny kick, but if it’s going to take the back of your head off, he’ll go get out the PB&J and be one happy camper.
Sunday morning I woke up still craving this dish and decided it was time to make it. While I agree with Tucker Carlson that google is the evil search engine on the planet, it is the best when it comes to finding recipes. (I also searched for Indigo, but alas, there was nothing. Google only knows Hotel Indigo… so there you have it, google doesn’t know everything… not yet anyway…). I knew the basic ingredients: pasta, chicken, black beans and corn plus A LOT of heat. I thought about the sauce which was where most of the heat resided and how it was thin rather than thick like a gravy or a cheese sauce. 
That led me to believe the dish most likely had no cheese but was a cream base. I googled “Southwestern Cream Sauce” and damned if I didn’t find several recipes which helped me create the one I decided to make. There were several “dips” with sour cream as the base; creating a thicker sauce than I wanted and sour cream was not the taste I was seeking. I wanted sweet like cream.
Most recipes called for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce which I didn’t have and was too lazy to venture out to the store. I have fresh jalapenos right out side my back door on the deck and in the freezer I had a homemade red enchilada sauce from Mexican lasagna that I made a few weeks ago. I decided both would be fine substitutes…. after all chipotle peppers is a fancy name for smoked and dried jalapenos and enchilada sauce has pretty much the same ingredients as an adobo sauce… not much of a brain stretch to figure this out… Here’s what I did:
Ingredients:
EVOO for pan-searing chicken breasts
4 Boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts – pounded to a uniform thinness; about 1/4-1/2 inch
4 cups dry pasta – I used Organic Montebello Far Falle but any quality pasta works (fresh, even better)
1 can Black Beans (I used Great Northern because I had no black)
2 Cups frozen corn
Sauce:
2 Cups Heavy Cream – use half n half or milk if you want to cut the fat – it won’t be as good but… – I warm my cream in the microwave before adding to anything hot to avoid curdling
1 or 2 Fresh Jalapeno or Habanero or Chipotle – more heat you want, more peppers you use
3 garlic cloves – peeled
5 pearl onions – regular onions are OK; I had some pearls I needed to use up
2 Tbls. Enchilada or Adobo sauce
1 Teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 Teaspoon ground chipotle pepper – again to taste
1/4 Teaspoon ground jalapeno pepper – again to taste
1/4 Teaspoon oregano, preferably Mexican oregano
Chopped Cilantro, optional – I used to love cilantro, now it tastes like soap to me… go figure…
Salt and Pepper for pasta water and to taste
Preparation:
Make pasta; drain but do not rinse – set aside
Pound chicken to desired thickness, salt and pepper each side
Saute chicken in EVOO until almost cooked through (it will finish cooking later) – set aside
While chicken and pasta are cooking, puree jalapenos, onions, garlic and enchilada sauce in small food processor. Add to small sauce pan and cook until bubbling and onions and jalapenos are soft. Add warmed cream and bring to gentle boil. Reduce heat to simmer and let sauce reduce by 1/3. You want it to sort of stick to the back of spoon but not thick like a cheese sauce or gravy.
Add beans, corn and pasta to pan you used for chicken and then add the cream sauce. Stir to mix/coat well. Use a low heat and put chicken on top of mixture. Cover and let simmer for a few minutes to allow flavors to co-mingle.
Serve and enjoy.
Let your partner clean the kitchen.
In my research, the recipe for the enchilada sauce I adapted was from GimmeSomeOven.com
For the Creamy Southwestern Chipotle Sauce, I chose the recipe at thehopelesshousewife.com as my “jumping off place”.
In addition to being an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.
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