Louisiana Chicken Pasta

If you've ever been to the Cheesecake Factory, you may have ordered this delight off their 75 page menu (seriously, the menu is like a magazine, so crazy). I know when we go there my husband ALWAYS orders it. It is his favorite thing and when he finds something he likes he usually sticks with it (truth be told, so do I, we aren't very adventurous) and orders it EVERY TIME.

So, naturally, once our daughter came along, and we weren't going out very often, he asked if I could make it for him. So here we are, a few attempts later and this is his favorite version of this dish.

What you need:

1 Yellow bell pepper
1 Red bell pepper
1/2 small red onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of butter
2 & 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Salt & Pepper
Bread crumbs
1 egg
1 Boneless skinless chicken breast
1lb penne pasta *
(*the actual dish is has bow-tie pasta but my husband likes penne better)

Make it:

So first you wanna get the water boiling for the pasta. 

Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and let it cook. 

Then! go ahead dice up the peppers & onion. 

Then, mince the garlic.

Melt the 2tbsp of butter in a sauté pan and let it melt.

Once it's sizzlin', go ahead and add in the peppers, onion & garlic. 

Sauté them until they brown up a little, usually about 4 or 5 mins.

While the veggies are doin' their thang, go ahead and dice up the chicken.

Add the bread crumbs in a bowl and in a separate bowl scramble the egg.

By the time you finish with prepping the chicken the veggies should be ready.

Go ahead and add in the heavy cream & chicken stock to the sauté pan with the veggies. 

Stir & bring it to a boil.

Once it starts boiling, reduce it to low heat and add in the grated cheese.

Then salt & pepper to your liking, & just let the sauce hang out on low.

You may want to give it the occasional stir.

What you do next is,

(I failed to take a picture of this step, my bad...I had a crying....

no, SCREAMING baby, and company at the door...)

 Heat up about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a frying pan.

While it's heating, you're gonna put the diced chicken pieces into the egg.

Then! take the diced chicken pieces and coat them in the bread crumbs.

Once they are all coated nice and evenly in the breadcrumbs, 

You're gonna add the chicken pieces to the oil and fry those little bad boys

 til their golden and delicious.

Try not to eat all the chicken bites before you add them to the pasta...it's hard to do, i know.

By now, the pasta should be finished. 

Go head and drain it well and add it into the sauce.

Mix it up so that it's all coated nicely and then, add in the chicken bits. 

Then mix those in as well.

Add a little bit of extra grated cheese (totally optional, but who doesn't like extra cheese?), transfer to a serving bowl, and sprinkle on some parsley if you're feelin' fancy, (im always feelin' fancy) 

& you're done.

As always, let me know if you tried this & how you liked it.

Next up.....pistachio cookies

This recipe has been brought to you by Molly, 

who has been a super good girl and let me post this for you today.....