The Best Dinner I Ever Made

This week Steve and I started meal planning. Therefore, I've been cooking (and baking!) a lot more. I like it, I feel so domestic. In the past week I've made spaghetti with garlic bread, delicious steak sandwiches, banana nut bread, shepherd's pie, strawberry cupcakes and (the star of this post) the most amazing pasta dish.

I had been craving my favorite dish from the Cheesecake Factory: Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic
It's the only thing I ever get there and it is so delicious. 
I put it on the meal planning menu and then freaked out a little since I had never made it and had no idea where to begin. After searching the internet a little, I had a game plan.


Pasta with Chicken and Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

serves: 4


Ingredients:

• 2 cups pasta          
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces   
• 4 pieces of bacon, diced        
• onion, diced    
• mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• sundried tomatoes (optional)
• canned tomatoes (optional) 
• roasted garlic       
• 1/2 cup milk         
• 1/2 cup cream         
• butter         
• 1/2 cup peas         
• parmesan cheese, grated

Ahead of time, roast the garlic. Take off as much of the papery skin as possible. Then, cut off the pointy end to expose a little of each clove. Set on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in the foil. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Let it cool before using.


Begin by cooking pasta to al dente. Drain, reserving at least 1 cup of the pasta water.

Cook the diced bacon in a pan until crispy, then set aside. Remove half of the bacon grease and add 1 tbsp butter to the pan. 
Add the onions and carmelize. 
Once the onions are cooked, you can add the optional ingredients  (mushrooms, tomatoes) and cook until they're soft.
Then, add as many roasted garlic cloves as you like (I used about 6) to the pan and mash in the pan with a fork. 
*Note, roasted garlic has a sweeter, less intense flavor than fresh garlic. We REALLY like garlic and 6 was plenty for us.

Next, turn up the heat on the pan. Season the chicken with pepper (and any other seasoning you like, just don't add salt at this point.) Add the chicken and stir.
Add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water and reduce heat to a simmer.
Add 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cream (or 1 cup half & half).
Simmer until the chicken is cooked and no longer pink inside.


Once the chicken is cooked, add the bacon back to pan. Add 1/2 cup of frozen peas. Stir.


Add 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese and cook until sauce is thick. Check the seasonings and add salt/pepper if needed.


Stir in the pasta. If the sauce is too thin, add more parmesan cheese. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more pasta water.

Serve and enjoy!
I shaved a little more parmesan and cracked black pepper on top.


It was delicious! It was very similar to the dish at the Cheesecake Factory and definitely cured my craving. I was proud...I'm pretty sure this was the best dish I've ever cooked. :)



Hope you enjoy!