2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound chicken (chicken breast or tenders)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (thyme, oregano, basil - combined)
5 medium tomatoes, chopped in large cubes
1 cup cooked spinach
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
6 bacon strips, cooked, drained of fat, and chopped
1 and 1/3 cups half and half
1 and 1/3 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded
10 oz penne pasta
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, for serving
In
a large skillet, on high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil until
hot. Add chicken and cook on one side on high heat for 1 minute. While
it cooks, sprinkle the uncooked sides of the chicken with paprika and
Italian seasoning. Flip the chicken over, and cook on the other side
for 1 minute on high heat. Reduce heat to medium, flip chicken over
again and cook, covered, for several minutes until no longer pink in the
center. Remove chicken from the pan and keep chicken warm.
To
the same pan (but without chicken), add chopped tomatoes, spinach,
garlic, crushed red pepper, 1/3 of the chicken (sliced into small
strips) and half the bacon (already cooked and drained of fat). Mix
everything.
Add
half and half and bring to boil. Only after half and half starts
boiling, add grated Parmesan cheese - immediately reduce to simmer and
stir, while simmering, until the cheese melts and makes the sauce
creamy, only about 1 minute (at most 2 minutes). Then, immediately
remove from heat. Season with more crushed red pepper and salt, if
needed.
In
the mean time bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta and cook it
according to instructions. Drain the pasta, rinse with cold water and
drain again.
Add
pasta to the skillet with the sauce. Add remaining half of bacon
(cooked and drained of fat). Season with more salt if necessary.
Slice the remaining 2/3 of chicken into thin strips. To serve, top the
pasta with chicken strips and grated Parmesan cheese.
bacon recipe source: Julia's Album (@JuliasAlbum), February 26, 2015
