Chicken and Bacon Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes in Garlic Cream Sauce

I’m always on the hunt for great pasta recipes. I mean, who isn’t? Although I’m more of a rice person but my husband absolutely loves pasta so when I came across this recipe from Yum Expert I knew I had to try it out.

I tweaked the recipe a little bit to add red onions because in this household, onions are a staple in every dish.

The thing I love about this recipe is you only need one pan to make everything (except for the bacons which you could fry in the pan but I chose to bake them in the oven).

One-pan recipes are really helpful especially because we live in a small studio apartment and if we could find a recipe that uses the least amount of pans and counter space, we take that recipe out for a spin almost immediately.

I tweaked the recipe from Yum Expert a little so feel free to also make your own version of this recipe:

Ingredients

1. 2 tbsp olive oil
2. 2-3 chicken breasts (sliced into thin strips or cubes)
3. 1 tsp paprika
4. 1 tsp Italian seasoning
5. 2 medium tomatoes, chopped in cubes
6. 1 cup cooked spinach
7. 5 garlic cloves, minced
8. 1/2 medium red onion
9. 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
10. 8 bacon strips, cooked and chopped
11. 1 and 1/3 cups half and half
12. 1 and 1/3 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded
13. 10 ounces penne pasta
14. 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F and bake bacon until crispy. Chop and Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.

3. Using bacon oil or olive oil, sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add one-half of crushed bacon.

4. Add chicken into pan and season with salt, pepper, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Continue cooking until chicken turns golden brown.

5. In the same pan, add heavy cream and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add grated Parmesan cheese, stirring constantly until the cheese melts.

6. Remove from heat and add in cooked pasta and cooked spinach. Mix well and cover for 1-2 minutes.

7. Serve pasta with remaining bacon bits and grated parmesan cheese

Let me know what you think!