Easy, 30 minute Spicy Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Peas - this recipe that uses basic ingredients.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword bacon pasta, spicy chicken pasta
Prep Time 10minutes
Cook Time 20minutes
Total Time 30minutes
Servings 4servings
Calories 835kcal
Author Julia
Ingredients
1poundchicken breastskinless and boneless, halved horizontally
salt
½teaspoonred pepper flakes
1teaspoondried basil
1tablespoonolive oil
8ozpenne pasta(use gluten free pasta for gluten free version)
1cupfrozen green peas
1tablespoonolive oil
6garlic clovesminced
½teaspoonred pepper flakes
15oztomato sauce , from the can (I used Hunt's)
½teaspoondried basil
1cupmozzarella cheese, shredded
½cupheavy cream
8slicesbacon, cooked, drained of fat, chopped
Instructions
How to cook chicken:
Cut chicken breast horizontally in half, to make it thinner. Season both chicken breast halves generously with salt and also with ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon dry basil - on both sides.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on high-medium heat in a large skillet. Add seasoned chicken breast halves and cook on one side for about 3-4 minutes on high-medium heat. Flip the chicken over to the other side and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, cover with the lid and let the chicken sit in the skillet off heat - it will continue cooking. After about 10-15 minutes, the chicken should be fully cooked and no longer pink in the center - remove the chicken from the skillet and slice into cubes. Set aside.
How to cook pasta and green peas
Cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Add peas to pasta during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain and rinse with cold water.
How to make creamy sauce:
To the same skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 6 cloves of minced garlic, and ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes - cook on medium heat for 1 minutes until garlic is fragrant. Add tomato sauce, ½ teaspoon dry basil, stir and bring to boil - immediately reduce to simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Add shredded mozzarella cheese to the sauce and stir to melt until cheese is completely melted and the sauce thickens - 30 seconds. With heat on simmer, add ½ cup heavy cream and stir to combine.
Final assembly:
Add cooked and rinsed pasta, peas, cooked sliced chicken, and half of chopped cooked bacon to the sauce. Mix to combine. If you cooked pasta in salted water, if you seasoned chicken generously with salt and used canned tomato sauce - there is really no need to add salt at this point as everything should be just perfect. Nevertheless, taste your final pasta and add salt if necessary. Top with the remaining half of chopped bacon