By Married Saturday December nineteenth at the Tulsa County Courthouse at eleven AM. The ceremony was eleven minutes. Mama, Dustin’s parents Kathy and Mike, Cody, Aunt Linda, Roy Calloway, and the courthouse clerk on file as the official witness were in the small ceremony room. Dustin wore his charcoal suit (the one he had bought at JCPenney in 2019 for the Owasso family-wedding of a cousin). I wore a white sundress Aunt Linda had altered for me Thursday afternoon. The ceremony took the eleven minutes the courthouse paperwork said it would. The judge pronounced us married. Dustin kissed me. I signed the marriage license as Kaylee Dawn Turner. Mama signed as the witness. We walked out of the ceremony room at eleven-thirteen AM as a married couple.
The post-courthouse dinner at the apartment was the small gathering Mama and Kathy had been planning since November. Eight people at the IKEA dining table at full extension. Mama did her turkey. Kathy did the macadamia-stuffed pork loin and the tropical fruit salsa Dustin’s family has been doing for special occasions for thirty years. Aunt Linda brought two pies. Dustin’s sister Joelle (who had flown in from Memphis Friday night and who I had met for the first time at the courthouse that morning) brought a green-bean casserole that was clearly a Bryant-side recipe.
I had agreed in November not to cook on the wedding day. I made one thing only: the four-cheese chicken fettuccine that Dustin had specifically asked for as the chicken-dish at the dinner. Chicken fettuccine alfredo with four cheeses (parmesan, mozzarella, provolone, and asiago) layered into the sauce. The dish reads as celebratory without being fussy.
Four-Cheese Chicken Fettuccine
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 12 oz fettuccine pasta
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 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 fettuccine according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining. Drain and set aside.
- Season and sear the chicken. Pat chicken pieces dry and season generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook 5–6 minutes, turning once, until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Build the sauce. Reduce heat to medium. Melt butter in the same skillet, scraping up any browned bits. Add minced garlic and cook 1 minute until fragrant. Pour in heavy cream and chicken broth, stirring to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 3–4 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Add the four cheeses. Reduce heat to low. Add mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan, and Romano cheeses to the sauce, stirring constantly until fully melted and smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add reserved pasta water a splash at a time to reach desired consistency.
- Combine and finish. Return the cooked chicken to the skillet. Add the drained fettuccine and toss everything together until the pasta is well coated. Add red pepper flakes if using. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Serve. Plate immediately and garnish with extra Parmesan and fresh chopped parsley. Best enjoyed while still hot.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 620 | Protein: 42g | Fat: 32g | Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 540mg