This Cheesecake Factory Pasta Da Vinci is a delicious and surprisingly easy copycat recipe, packed with flavor from Madeira wine, sautéed mushrooms and garlic. It will surely tempt your family and friends with mouth watering aromas.
Pasta Da Vinci Wine Choices
MADEIRA WINE. When making this pasta, I used Madeira wine, which is a fortified wine. It is bright amber in color and is similar in texture to Marsala or dry Sherry. Both of these wines can be used as substitutes for Madeira, since Madeira can be tricky to find.
AMBER IN COLOR. Just make sure that the color of the wine you choose is amber and not pink or too light. Otherwise, you’ll be disappointed.
As a general rule, any medium dry fortified wine will work very well.
And remember, no matter which wine you decide to use out of those mentioned above, you will surely enjoy an impressive meal that can be made for a special occasion or as a weekend treat.
Why make Pasta Da Vinci
- SIMPLICITY – This is a very simple pasta recipe can be made quickly and with just a few ingredients. In the time it takes you to drive to the restaurant this dish can be prepared and already on the table.
- FLAVOR – You will be amazed by the flavor combination in this pasta dish. This Cheesecake Factory Pasta Da Vinci Copycat uses fresh mushrooms give the recipe heartiness, while the Madeira wine gives a touch of sweetness.
Main Tip on making Pasta Da Vinci
PROPORTION OF SAUCE INGREDIENTS. Many cooks have experimented with the pasta in Madeira wine sauce and I reviewed about 6 online versions and tried various proportions of the ingredients to come to the conclusion that the secret to that perfect tasty creamy wine sauce is the proportion of sauce ingredients:
What works is an easy to remember combination of ½ cup heavy cream to ½ cup, ½ cup chicken stock, ½ cup Parmesan and then 1 cup Madeira wine. I also added 1 tablespoon flour to help thicken up sauce a little bit.
The taste of this amazing sauce is deep, yet delicate due to the addition of Madeira wine flavor.
How to cook chicken chunks perfectly
Slice the chicken into bite sized pieces. Heat a stainless steel skillet over medium high, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and add the chicken cubes. Season chicken with salt as you cook. Saute until golden brown, then set aside.
Soften the onions
Add 4 tablespoon butter to the now empty skillet and turn up heat to medium high. Add 1 chopped red medium onion and cook for 4 minutes on medium heat until softened.
Brown the mushrooms
Add 8 oz sliced mushrooms to onions and continue cooking for 3-4 more minutes on medium high heat. Remove mushrooms and onions from the skillet onto a plate.
How to make Madeira Wine Cream Sauce
Add 2 tablespoon butter to the now empty skillet and allow it to melt. Add 4 cloves chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Then add 1 tablespoon flour to butter and cook and stir for 1 minute to create a roux. This will help thicken the sauce for the pasta.
Reduce heat and add 1 cup Madeira. Once the sizzling has subsided, turn the stove back on and heat to a gentle simmer.  Add ½ cup heavy cream and ½ cup chicken stock.
Cook for 5 more minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate and to allow the flavor of the sauce to develop. Turn off heat and add ½ cup Parmesan. Allow it to mix with the sauce using a wooden spoon.
Taste the sauce, and if it seems too strong, add additional ¼ cup chicken stock. Add a salt and pepper if needed. Add the mushrooms and onions back into the pan with the garlic, and simmer 1-2 more minutes.
Assembly of Pasta Da Vinci
Taste the sauce, and if it seems too strong, add additional ¼ cup chicken stock. Add a salt and pepper if needed.
Add the mushrooms and chicken back into the pan with the garlic, and simmer 1-2 more minutes.
Love Cooking with Wine?
If you enjoy wine in your cooking endeavors as well, I have a number of recipes on my site with wine in it for you to enjoy:
Chicken Pasta in Creamy White Wine Parmesan Sauce
Herb Roasted Chicken in Creamy White Wine Sauce
Seared Chicken Pasta in Chardonnay Wine Sauce
How about cooking with vodka:)?
Follow me on PINTEREST to get more recipe ideas!
Pasta Da Vinci – Sautéed Chicken and Mushroom Pasta in Madeira Wine Sauce
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 lb chicken tenders or breasts, sliced in 1 inch cubes
- Salt, to taste
For the veggies:
Wine Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup Madeira wine, (or fortified wine such as Sherry or Marsala)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup chicken stock, (more if desired)
- ½ cup Parmesan
- Salt and pepper to taste
- â…› teaspoon red pepper flakes, (optional)
Pasta:
- 10 oz. any tubular pasta, (such as penne or rigatoni)
Instructions
- COOKING PASTA: Start boiling water to cook 10 oz of pasta al dente (not too soft – we will add it to the sauce later where it will have a chance to soften up) in salty water. Drain, but do not rinse.
- CHICKEN: Slice the chicken into bite sized pieces. Heat a stainless steel skillet over medium high, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and add the chicken cubes. Season chicken with salt as you cook. Saute until golden brown, remove chicken from the skillet
- ONIONS and MUSHROOMS: Add 4 tablespoon butter to the now empty skillet and turn up heat to medium high. Add 1 chopped red medium onion and cook for 4 minutes on medium heat until softened. Add 8 oz sliced mushrooms to onions and continue cooking for 3-4 more minutes on medium high heat. Remove mushrooms and onions from the skillet onto a plate.
- MADEIRA WINE CREAM SAUCE: Add 2 tablespoon butter to the now empty skillet and allow it to melt. Add 4 cloves chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon flour to butter and cook and stir for 1 minute to create a roux. This will help thicken the sauce for the pasta.
- Reduce heat and add 1 cup Madeira. Once the sizzling has subsided, turn the stove back on and heat to a gentle simmer. Add ½ cup heavy cream and ½ cup chicken stock. Cook for 5 more minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate and to allow the flavor of the sauce to develop.
- Turn off heat and add ½ cup Parmesan. Allow it to mix with the sauce using a wooden spoon. Taste the sauce, and if it seems too strong, add additional ¼ cup chicken stock. Add a salt and pepper if needed. Add the mushrooms and onions back into the pan with the garlic, and simmer 1-2 more minutes.
- FINAL ASSEMBLY: Add chicken into the pan, and simmer 1-2 more minutes. Now add cooked pasta into the pan, and stir. Allow the pasta to heat for 1 minute.
- Serve sprinkled with red pepper flakes (optional) and additional Parmesan.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
For other popular chicken recipes see Balsamic Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Apples and Chicken Pasta in Creamy White Wine Parmesan Sauce).
I just made this recipe and it was a hit with my family. I couldn’t find the Madeira wine, so I used Marsala and it turn out delicious. So much flavor. Thank you for the detailed steps, they were clear and made it so easy to follow. I will definitely make this often 🙂
Thank you Evelyn – Marsala works great and much easier to get hold of!
We’ll I’ve got to jump in here and add my review to all the others. I read a ton of reviews on this before I made it. I’ve worked as a personal cook for a dozen years and have been through culinary school. I’m pretty picky about recipes. I’ve not tried this dish before so I can’t compare it to CF’s version. But what I can say is that this was delicious!!! My small tweak was just that I was out of Madeira wine and had to use Marsala. I omitted the crushed red peppers but put them out for family to add if they want. But They all said it was great without it. I had a rotisserie chicken I was looking for a way to elevate it. So after deboning it I cut it into large chunks and just very briefly sautéed it in butter and olive oil. Just really to get the flavor into the pan before sautéing the onions and mushrooms. I did add a little extra splash of cream and about 1 tsp of chicken base to the sauce at the end. My husband said he’d like it next time with a lighter pasta like Angel hair. But my sons like the penne. This was just so good on a cool Fall night. Served with fresh asparagus and garlic bread. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! If anything we decided next time I’ll increase that sauce by 1 1/2 x the recipe so there’s more of it! (Good to dip the bread in it!!)
Thank you so much for such a wonderful review! I also like to use extra cream as well as make extra batch of sauce in order to have plenty to go around and left over. Lighter pasta is an amazing idea, by the way!
Which type of butter unsalted or salted
I used unsalted.