Can we talk about a creamy garlic ricotta sauce smothering hearty rigatoni pasta, with a hefty helping of mushrooms and chicken…oh and crispy bacon…
Oh.Em.Gee.
I made this on the night before we went grocery shopping for the week. You know those types of dinners that require you to get creative and throw whatever you have on hand in the pot and hope for the best? Yeah…This was that kind of franken-dinner, but as soon as I was done shoveling forkful after forkful into my mouth I ran to the computer to document what I did.
This is one recipe I do NOT want to forget!
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! 🙂
- Get out a large skillet/saute pan and fry your bacon bits and render as much fat as possible from them
- Scoop out the bacon pieces onto a paper towel to drain, and add your chopped onion and garlic to the bacon fat
- While those are sweating, get a pot of salted water ready to boil for your pasta
- Add your pasta to the boiling water and cook per box instructions
- When the onions and garlic have softened, add in your mushrooms and season with thyme and salt and pepper
- When mushrooms have softened a bit add your ricotta cheese, half and half, the bouillon cube- stir everything together
- If sauce seems to thick ladle in some of the pastas cooking water to thin it out a bit before draining the pasta
- Add cooked pasta, chicken, and bacon bits to the sauce and toss together parmesan and italian herbs
- 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!
Talk to you soon friends, take care!
XO
Looks YUM!!!! Can I freeze this?
I probably wouldn’t freeze it personally, but you could try it out and see! 🙂
Sounds delish!
Can I substitute something else for the chicken bouillon cube?
Sure, you could just add a bit of chicken base, or some chicken stock. Or just omit it completely 🙂
Hi! I completely forgot to buy the bullion cube and don’t have a substitute. Will it taste okay without? And is half and half “ultra pasteurized” okay?
I’m sure it will be fine. you just won’t have the earthy chicken flavor that the bouillon cube gives.
Hello! This looks great. How many does this serve? 6? 8?
It serves 4-6 very comfortably! 🙂
How much dried thyme and dried Italian herbs do you recommend?
I probably did about 1/2 tablespoon each. I didn’t measure for this particular recipe, so taste it and adjust to your liking 🙂
hi there!
fab recipe! cant wait to try it but what do you mean by half and half?
Its a lighter cream than heavy cream, but if you can’t find it, use 1/2 milk and 1/2 heavy cream.
Single cream
A –Print– option would be awesome! A cuttin’ and a pasting I will go.
I Agree!
Made it for my parents everyone thought is tasted amazing! defiantly will make again.
This is just perfect for a night of entertaining because you can do all the steps up to the ricotta before hand. Keep it barely warm then crank it up as everyone is heading toward the dining room. Takes about three minutes to add the last ingredients and heat. Instead of pasta water I added a quarter cup of dry white wine. I was generous with the thyme and Italian seasoning and everyone raved about the aroma. It’s a keeper!
Great to hear Jennifer! Thank you for stopping by 🙂
What are the dried Italian herbs? Is that the same as Italian seasoning
Yes! Thats exactly what it is 🙂
We don’t really like ricotta cheese. Is there another cheese I could use instead?
cottage cheese would be the closest substitute or you could use sour cream