Chicken-Pepper Alfredo

September. The birch trees turning. The gold arriving in the canopy like a slow fire, the transformation that makes Alaska look like it's burning and the burning is beautiful. I drove to Lourdes's house through the gold and the drive was twenty minutes of beauty so excessive it felt like the state was trying to distract me from what's coming — the five months of darkness that live on the other side of this gold, the winter that uses autumn's beauty as camouflage.

Angela is eight months pregnant. The baby — still unnamed, because Angela and James are deliberating with the thoroughness of an engineer and a Santos woman, which means the name must meet both engineering specs (phonetic clarity, international pronunciation viability) and Santos specs (must sound good when Lourdes yells it across the Mountain View house) — is due in January. January. A baby in January in Alaska. The darkness will be total. The baby will arrive in the four-hour-daylight window. The baby's first experience of the world will be cold and dark, which is the most Alaskan introduction possible.

I made Angela's third-trimester adobo — the specific adobo that Lourdes prescribes for the final stretch, heavier on the garlic (for the blood), lighter on the vinegar (for the stomach), with extra rice (for the energy). The recipe is Lourdes science, which is to say: it's not science, it's tradition, and the tradition has been keeping Santos women fed through the last trimester since Iloilo. Angela ate two servings. Lourdes supervised the eating with the intensity of a hawk monitoring prey. Two servings was deemed acceptable. The baby will be well-built.

Lourdes’s adobo is hers and hers alone — the garlic proportions live in her hands, not in any written record — but what I can share is the spirit of it: something warm, something heavy with intention, something you make when the person eating it is doing the most important work of their life. This Chicken-Pepper Alfredo carries that same instinct. The garlic is generous. The sauce is rich. The whole thing says, without saying it, you are being taken care of. Angela would have approved of a second serving of this, too.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

12 oz fettuccine or linguine pasta
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain and set aside.
Season and sear the chicken. Season chicken strips generously with salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 5—6 minutes, turning once, until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
Soften the peppers. In the same skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add all three bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4—5 minutes until softened and just beginning to caramelize at the edges.
Build the garlic base. Add minced garlic to the peppers and cook 1—2 minutes, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Do not let it brown.
Make the Alfredo sauce. Pour in the heavy cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook 3—4 minutes, stirring, until the cream reduces slightly. Add Parmesan in two additions, stirring between each until fully melted and the sauce is smooth and glossy. Add red pepper flakes.
Combine and finish. Return the cooked chicken to the skillet. Add the drained pasta and toss everything together, adding reserved pasta water a splash at a time if the sauce needs loosening. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Serve. Divide among bowls or plates. Garnish with fresh parsley and an extra dusting of Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken-Pepper Alfredo — The Warmth You Cook When Words Fall Short