Colorful Chicken Bacon Penne

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 pound of penne pasta

6 campari tomatoes, diced

6 cloves of garlic, minced

6 oz of frozen spinach, thawed and drained

6 bacon strips, cooked and drained of fat

Bacon fat from cooking the 6 slices

1/3 cup olive oil

2 TBSP butter

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup white wine

2 cups of parmesan cheese (grated)

2 cups of cream (heavy cream or half and half)

1 tsp italian seasoning

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp red pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp of oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

Pinch of fresh parsley if you have it

Directions:

1. Cook your bacon, drain on paper towels, and reserve the fat. 

2. Remove all but 2 TBSP bacon fat. Keep the heat on medium high. Season the chicken with 1 tsp of paprika and 1/2 tsp italian seasoning.  Sear the chicken for about 4 minutes per side. 

3. Add a little olive oil if your pan is too dry. After the chicken seared for 8 minutes total, add the wine and scrap the pan a bit. Keep the chicken in for another 4 minutes. 

4. Remove the chicken to a cutting board (it may not be all the way done). Add the tomatoes, garlic, spinach, olive oil and additional seasonings to the pan. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes. 

5. Start your pasta now. Cook according to directions

6. To your pan with everything in it, add the cream and butter and stir.

7. Dice your chicken and crumble the bacon. Add that to the pan. 

8. Continue to cook together for about 5-7 minutes. Add in 1 cup of parmesan and stir. 

9. When pasta is done, drain the pasta and add it directly into the pan. 

10. Toss together and serve with parsley and additional parmesan.

I enjoyed this dish with a dry riesling wine. It has just enough cream and pepper flavor to go well with a subtle white wine.  

Enjoy

Julianne

*The idea and picture is Found on juliasalbum.com. My dish did come out looking exactly like this. I made a few changes to the recipe I found on this album but her picture looks great.