Saturday 18 July 2015

Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta



This is my go to I can't be bothered dinner. It's easy peasy. Tim even cooks it without a recipe. It does use cream (lactose free in our house), so is not a dairy free recipe. 

I first made this dish by accident when I was pregnant with Miss E. Instead of tipping a jar of tomato sauce into the chicken and bacon mix, I tipped in cream that was meant to be used for another dish entirely. Whoops! I blame crazy pregnancy hormones for this delicious dish, although maybe I should take the credit for myself.


Tonight we had this pasta. I love the fun colours it adds to the finished dish. The girls call it rainbow pasta.

The biggest part of this dish is preparing the meat before you start but once that's done it comes together really fast. I didn't include the directions for getting pasta cooked in the recipe but I'll outline my timeline here. I get a pot for pasta on while I dice the chicken and bacon. We use smoked bacon because Tim is mad for it. Are there many men that aren't mad for bacon? Once the meat is diced, I fry off garlic in a fry pan. Sometimes I skip the garlic, it's not a big deal, the garlic just gives a nice flavour. I then chuck in the meat to fry it off until lightly browned and the chicken is cooked through. Usually the water for pasta is ready during this time. I salt the water, chuck the pasta in and let that cook. 

Everything is almost ready at this point. I add cream, salt, pepper and any herbs I'm adding. I cook it off until the cream has thickened nicely. Sometimes this only takes a few minutes, sometimes 10 minutes. Just watch it and wait for it to thicken enough for you. I like to take it off the heat just before it's thick enough, as it will continue to thicken. If it is too thick, you can add more cream and mix it through. While the sauce is thickening, my pasta is usually ready.


Once the pasta and sauce are both ready, add the strained pasta to the sauce and gently mix it around. That's it! We like to serve it with steamed veg and homemade garlic bread on the side, but you could also just have a big bowl of pasta.



I would say it serves 4, but if you have a husband who, like mine, would eat the entire pot, you may want to add more cream to make it go further. As you can see, we never have any left!


Ingredients
5-6 cups cooked pasta
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or another safe oil)
2 garlic cloves
500g chicken breast diced
200g bacon diced
300ml cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tablespoon chives (optional)

1. Melt coconut oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Crush garlic and fry off in oil until just starting to brown.
2. Add chicken and bacon. Cook until lightly browned and chicken is cooked through. Stir intermittently to ensure even cooking.
3. Add cream, salt, pepper and chives and stir well. Allow cream to thicken, stirring occasionally.
4. When cream has thickened, remove from heat and stir pasta through sauce. Serve.

Notes

  • I like to make a double batch to use in lunch boxes the following day. Sometime I will cook a 1/4 recipe and just do a single serve for Miss E to take to Kindy in her Thermos.
Happy Cooking!
Jasmine

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