Chicken Carbonara

This dish is definitely a signature dish of mine. It definitely is the dish that sparked my love of cooking and it sparked my curiosity into dishes that are more complex. So I'm excited to share my recipe with you! This is also my hubbys favorite dinner. I cook it for most of our special occasions and he always enjoys it.

Ingredients

• olive oil

• 8 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

• 2 tbsp. minced garlic

• salt and pepper

• 6-7 chicken breast tenders, raw

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced (optional)

• 8 large egg yolks

• 2 c. heavy cream

• 3 tbsp. garlic pepper

• 1/4 c. chopped fresh italian parsley

• 1 c. freshly, grated parmesan

• 2 tsp. onion powder

• 2 tsp. garlic powder

• 1 lb. pasta, cooked(we used garden bowties :) )

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan, over medium. Add bacon and garlic and cook until crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

2. Season tenders with salt and pepper and add them to the pan. Cook until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 165°F, about 6 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside.

*If using bell peppers, add them about half way through the cook and remove them with the chicken.

*You'll notice that I had to use chicken breasts instead of tenders. Unfortunately, that's all I had. I really prefer tenders, because they are easier to cook. I ended up having to finish these in the oven.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together cream, yolks, garlic pepper, onion and garlic powder, parsley and cheese until well combined.

4. Shred the chicken and add it back to the pan with peppers and bacon.

5. Add cooked pasta and cream mixture and toss until sauce fully coats pasta and chicken has heated back up. If necessary, toss over medium-low heat.

6. Season with salt and pepper to taste and top with fresh herbs.

Tips & Tricks

• Traditionally, carbonara is made with spaghetti. Sometimes I make it with spaghetti, but in this house, we LOVE bowtie pasta, so you will see me use it a lot in my cooking.

• As always, if you're feeling lazy, you can purchase a roasted chicken from your local grocery store, shred it and just skip the chicken-cooking step.

• As for the raw egg, something I'm very familiar with, especially in baking, once the egg touches the warm pasta and meat, it immediately cooks, so in case anyone was worried about raw egg in the sauce, you're covered lol. I always save the pasta cooking for more towards the end anyways, so that way it's always hot when I serve it.

• Other optional ingredients include peas and pecans(I know weird, but I've seen it done before. Never tried it.), the peas I would honestly boil towards the end of the pasta boil with the pasta. The pecans are used as a topping. :)