Creamy Bacon, Mushroom Chicken Pasta

Here’s what you’ll need…

• 1 box rigatoni pasta or similar
• 2-3 pieces of bacon, chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion finely diced
• about 3 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 package fresh sliced baby bella mushrooms (about 4 cups)
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken (I used leftover rotisserie chicken)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried italian herbs
• *optional – sliced green onion to garnish

I know this is probably a little heavy for summer for most of you, it was for us too, but I didn’t want to waste all those little delicious tidbits in the fridge!  But between you and me I’m probably going to be eating this all fall and winter and gain like six hundred and thirty pounds, but I don’t care…Gimme more! 

1. Get out a large skillet/saute pan and fry your bacon bits and render as much fat as possible from them
2. Scoop out the bacon pieces onto a paper towel to drain, and add your chopped onion and garlic to the bacon fat
3. While those are sweating, get a pot of salted water ready to boil for your pasta
4. Add your pasta to the boiling water and cook per box instructions
5. When the onions and garlic have softened, add in your mushrooms and season with thyme and salt and pepper
6. When mushrooms have softened a bit add your ricotta cheese, half and half, the bouillon cube- stir everything together
7. If sauce seems to thick ladle in some of the pastas cooking water to thin it out a bit before draining the pasta
8. Add cooked pasta, chicken, and bacon bits to the sauce and toss together parmesan and italian herbs
9. Garnish with something fresh and green like spring onions or fresh parsley and serve hot.

YOU. GUYS.

If this pasta is wrong, I don’t want to be right…

Each forkful is the perfect creamy, earthy, salty bite and honestly…It just doesn’t get any better than this…

Well, okay…Maybe it does with a glass of chilled white wine.

Creamy bacon, mushroom & chicken pasta= Perfection, and comfort food at it’s finest.

psst…Loving what you see? Check out my other pasta dishes right here. Especially this one…Creamy Chicken Marsala Mushroom Pasta…YES PLEASE!