Creamy Chicken & Bacon Tomato Pasta

Creamy Chicken and Bacon Tomato Pasta Sauce combines soft chicken, with smoky bacon and sun-dried tomatoes for a real intensity of flavour and finished with double cream to make this a real comfort food dish.

When it comes to a pasta dish that my family all love it has to be this Creamy Chicken & Bacon pasta sauce. Ready and on the table in 30 minutes making this the ideal mid week dinner. It's empty plates all round in my house.

In fact pasta dishes like this chicken and bacon pasta sauce, are the dishes I come to depend on when I am pushed for time but still want to put something warming and nutritious on the table.

For me cream based pasta sauces are comfort food in a bowl, particularly over the colder months of the year when I want something to warm me from the inside, out.

Why you'll love this recipe:

• The perfect pairing of flavours as chicken, bacon and tomato all work together, bound in a creamy sauce.
• Get ahead and prepare the sauce earlier in the day or even the day before, then just add fresh cooked pasta when you're ready to eat.
• Feeding a crowd no problem, just double up the recipe.
• Ready and on the table in 30 minutes so a winning dinner for a quick meal mid week.

How to make creamy chicken & bacon pasta

• Look out all your ingredients ready to start.
• Place a large frying pan over a medium/high heat and pour in the olive oil.
• Add the streaky bacon and saute until the bacon in cooked through and becomes crispy.

• While the bacon is cooking, get on with preparing the chicken and the rest of the vegetables.
• Also place a large pan of boiling, salty water on the stove and cook the pasta for 12-15 minutes to al-dente so that it still retains some bite.

• Add the chicken to the frying pan and give it a stir through the bacon.
• Next add the leeks, garlic and chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the pan, give everything a cook mix together.
• Turn the heat down to medium and cook everything gently until the leeks start to soften and the chicken is cooked through, approximately 10 minutes.
• Once the pasta is cooked, drain, retaining 2-3 ladles of the pasta cooking water, and set aside.

• Add the tomato puree, dried oregano and fresh thyme to the pan and stir through.
• Cut the mozzarella ball into small cubes and add to the pan.
• Now finish the sauce by loosening it with the retained pasta water.
• Add a ladle at a time until you achieve the desired consistency.
• Stir through the double cream and season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
• Add the pasta to the pasta sauce and stir through, ensuring the sauce completely coats the pasta.
• Garnish with fresh parsley and some grated Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Creamy chicken & bacon pasta ingredients & substitutions

• Olive Oil is used to saute the bacon, chicken and veggies in the pan. Olive oil adds great flavour but if you don't have any, rapeseed oil would be a good substitute.
• Streaky Bacon adds flavour to the base of the pasta sauce. I use smoked streaky bacon to add a real depth of flavour as the bacon fat renders into the pasta sauce. However, you can use any variety of bacon.
• Chicken Breasts are diced and added to the pan with the bacon. I use free-range chicken breast, but you could also substitute with skinless, boneless chicken thighs.
• Leeks and Garlic add flavour to the base sauce, take time to cook the leek out as it will really improve the final flavour.
• Tomato flavour is added in the form of both sun-dried tomatoes and tomato puree. Both these ingredients have an intense tomato flavour.
• Herbs are added to the pasta sauce in the form of dried oregano and fresh thyme leaves. You could also add or swap in some freshly chopped basil or parsley to the sauce. I like to finish the sauce with a handful of freshly chopped parsley for a burst of fresh herb flavour.
• Dried Pasta I have used fusilli, but use any shape of pasta that you have in your own store.
• Double Cream (heavy cream) adds the creamy element to the sauce. You could swap the double cream for single cream, but if doing that perhaps cut back a little on the pasta cooking water as you don't want too thin a sauce. You could also substitute the cream with mascarpone cheese.
• Parmesan Cheese can be grated over the pasta when ready to serve. This is entirely optional and down to taste.

Recipe variations

• Create a lighter sauce leave out the double cream and add the same quantity of tomato passata instead.
• To make a gluten free creamy chicken and bacon pasta dish, just swap regular pasta for a gluten free variety instead.
• For a dairy free chicken and bacon tomato pasta, leave out the double cream and add the same quantity of tomato passata instead. Also remove the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses from the dish.
• To make a super cheesy chicken and bacon pasta sauce by swapping the double cream for mascarpone cheese or cream cheese to may Philadelphia chicken and bacon pasta.
• This dish can be easily turned into a chicken and bacon pasta bake. Simply cook the pasta and sauce as detailed in the recipe card below, cutting back on the pasta cooking time a little as it will continue to cook in the oven. Then pour the pasta into a large oven-proof dish, cover with some grated cheese and place in a hot oven at 180C/160CFan for 20 minutes.

Serving suggestions

This bowl of creamy pasta is hearty and rich so I keep any side dishes on the simple side. I would serve with a fresh green salad and some fresh tomatoes. However, you could also add some crusty bread or garlic bread if you wish.

Useful hints and tips

1. Retain a cup of the starchy pasta cooking water so you can add a ladle or two to the pasta sauce. The pasta water adds flavour to the pasta sauce as well helping to bind the sauce together with the cooked pasta.
2. Feeding a crowd? No problem, this recipe is easily doubled up.
3. To make this chicken and bacon tomato pasta gluten free, use gluten free pasta in place of regular pasta.
4. Allergy advice: soya free and nut free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.

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Additional recipe suggestions

If you like this recipe then try some of our other great Italian pasta inspired dishes recipes:

• Creamy Sausage Pasta
• Ham & Broccoli Pasta Bake
• Homemade Bolognese Sauce
• Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce
• Courgette Pasta
• Smoked Salmon Pasta
• Pumpkin Pasta with Brown Butter Sauce
• Courgette & Chorizo Gnocchi
• Pumpkin Gnocchi

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