Home made Alredo sauce with Penne and Grilled chicken

 

I had chicken breasts, penne, whipping cream... What can you make for dinner with that? Chicken Alfredo. Yes! I borrowed Parm from my mom to avoid a trip to the store. Thanks mom! 

Here's what you need:

A pound of Penne Pasta

1 tablespoon of butter

2 cloves of garlic

3 cups of heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cups of shredded (grated) Parm

1/4 cup of fresh parsley minced

Chicken- I had Joe grill ours but if you had leftover roasted chicken or whatever you could use that. 

I boiled my pasta while I made my alfredo, while Joe grilled my chicken. NOTE: I always toss my noodles in olive oil when they are done and drained. That way they don't stick together. It is especially helpful if you are going to make your pasta ahead. This is a great meal to make one day and heat and eat the next. That is if you are organized like that. I am usually not :) Tonight I made a double batch of this to freeze and eat another time.

Start by melting your butter in a pan.

When its melted add your garlic to it and saute it. I used my Trader Joe's favorite frozen crushed garlic.

 Once its is nice and bubbly add your heavy cream. I did this on low to medium heat. You do not want to boil it. But simmering it, small frothy bubbling is good.

 You definitely want to keep your eye on it. AND keep stirring it here and there.

 Once it is nice and frothy add in your Parm

 

 Stir until the cheese is melted and it will thicken as you go. I used black pepper but white pepper might be even better. I think I used less then a teaspoon of pepper. I felt like it needed a little more. So do it to taste.

 Lucky for me my parsley hasn't frozen yet in the yard so I grabbed some and chopped it to add.

 Keep stirring it so you don't burn it on the bottom. Keep it on low until you are ready to mix it.

 I added a teeny bit of lemon juice just cause. It is optional. I think it added to the flavor. This was just one segment. Not very much at all. 

 I chopped the chicken breasts up and then added that and the sauce to the pasta.

 Stir well, top with more Parm and serve with a nice salad.

 I went with a garden salad with a vinaigrette, because the pasta is so heavy, it balanced nicely.

 It is kind of a joke I keep laughing at myself about... In my body image crisis post I wrote that "it isn't like I eat heavy cream and butter every day!" Since then I feel like everything I have made seriously has heavy cream and butter in it! I think I need to start my New Years resolution sooner then later and start eating like it is summer again :) Oh well, it was delicious! SO enJOY!