I am not a precise cook, sometimes I am a bit of an absentee cook even, but I am also a lucky cook! It was my turn to host the family dinner and as I was trying to figure out what to make I realized I had most of the ingredients to make this pasta dish. Now this is actually a combination of 3 different recipes so this one is truly a Kathy original!
Now I am not going to sugar coat this one, it can take awhile to prepare. I cooked the chicken and the bacon before taking my first picture cause cooked chicken and bacon look much better! Any recipe can come together pretty fast once the ingredients are prepped, this is the same way. I prefer to cook my chicken on the stove top and the bacon in the oven. Fortunately they can both be done at the same time. When those are done I get the Alfredo sauce started. There are lots of Alfredo sauces out there and I have tried more than one and was really impressed with how this one turned out. These sauces can take a while though, Parmesan cheese doesn't melt quickly.
Once that has been started, keeping it on low of course, get your water boiling for the pasta. I had read online about how a wooden spook keeps pasta water from boiling over, it worked for me!
While the pasta and sauce are doing their thing you can get your chicken, bacon and green onions cut up. Once everything is done, you can now assemble this dish of goodness! Combine the chicken, bacon, most of the green onions and Parmesan cheese. Pour the sauce into the meat mixture in the bowl. Add the drained pasta. Now, this is where I talk about my lack of attention to detail. I should have purchased a tub of that wonderful Philly cooking cream, but I missed that and had to improvise. Fortunately for me, everything still turned out great. So if you buy a tub, include that here. Otherwise, use the remaining cube of cream cheese, about 1/3 cup of cream or half and half, approximately 2 cloves of garlic minced, I sprinkled in some basil, some garlic salt and an all purpose seasoning from Trader Joe's.
Once everything is combined, pour it into 9x13 cake pan. Sprinkle the top with mozzarella cheese and remaining green onions. If you needed to bake this advance, cover with foil and place in the fridge until you are ready to bake. If you are baking it immediately, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, uncover and back for 10 minutes more. If you are baking it at a later time, add 15 minutes to the covered bake time.
This was a big enough hit I think it might even get requested as a birthday meal!
*I recently made this one again, using sausage instead of bacon. Turned out great! I couldn't find the Philly cooking cream anywhere though. I think stores have stopped carrying this. In that case, use the improvised version but add it to the Alfredo sauce to make a creamy sauce to be combined with the meat and pasta.
Chicken Bacon & Tortellini Bake
Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts, cooked and cut up
1 package of bacon, cooked and cut up
1 (20 oz) package of frozen tortellini
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
1 tub of Savory garlic cooking cream or 6 oz cream cheese, 1/3 cup of whipping cream, 2 cloves garlic, garlic salt, basil.
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Alfredo Sauce
2 cups of heavy cream or half and half
2 ounces of cream cheese
1 cube of butter or 1/2 cup
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine butter, cream, garlic and parmesan cheese in medium pot. Keep on low heat stirring frequently. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Combine chicken, bacon, green onion, mozzarella cheese and cooking cream in large bowl.
3. Drain pasta when done. When alfredo sauce is smooth and creamy, pour a small portion, enough to coat the bottom of the 9x13 pan.
4. Pour renaming sauce over the meat mixture and stir to coat. Pour everything into the prepped 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes or until slightly browned and melted.
Serve with garlic bread and enjoy!
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