Recipe #27: Bow Tie Chicken Alfredo

My friend, Crystal, and I try to hang out about once a month at my place, kid free. We get to catch up, she gets a mommy break and dinner, and I get to try new recipes. 🙂 Everyone wins!! So last time she was over, I decided to try this recipe…

While this recipe does come from Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman), it was actually sent to me by my boss who tried it and loved it.

Bow tie Chicken Alfredo

What you need:

Bowtie Pasta (farfalle)

Tablespoons Butter

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Salt And Pepper, to taste

2 cloves Garlic, Minced

3/4 cups Chicken Broth (Or dry white wine)

1/2 cup Half-and-half

3 Tablespoons Heavy Cream

Chicken Broth, For Thinning

3/4 cups Parmesan Shavings Or Grated Parmesan

2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced

First things first, cook the pasta for one minute less than the package directs.

While that is going on….

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts and put them in a skillet with some butter over medium-high.

Once golden brown on both sides and are cooked all the way thru, remove them from the skillet and let them rest while you make the sauce

Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the skillet,  throw in the minced garlic and cook for about a minute.

Now, here the Pioneer Woman says to pour in white wine, instead I used chicken broth. One, Crystal doesn’t like the taste of alcohol. Two, I didn’t have any. So add your chicken broth… then let it come to a simmer and reduce for about 2 minutes.

At this point you would add the half-and-half, I used 1% milk. Again, it was what I had and I also wanted it to be a bit lighter. This did result in a slightly thinner sauce though. Anyways, add the milk , cream, salt, and pepper. Then whisk until it’s all combined.

Let it simmer for a few minutes until thick. If it gets too thick, you can thin it with a little more chicken broth.

Once thick, remove it from the heat. Add Parmesan to the pan, then throw the pasta in. Toss.

Now, return to that well rested chicken and cut it into strips.

Add the chicken and continue tossing until it’s all combined.

Taste for salt and then top with minced parsley and Parmesan.

This was delicious and Crystal loved it. Although, starting with butter and garlic, I had her fairly early on. It was one of those dishes that you can’t stop eating even though you are full. The sauce was much thinner than I thought it was going to be, probably because I used milk instead of half and half. It just didn’t look like the Alfredo that we’re used to, the kind that coats everything. I was worried that it wouldn’t have much flavor because the pasta didn’t look like it was coated, but it was there in every bite. I think I would try this again with half and half though to see the difference.