I like to cook but there are days when I just want to eat dinner, watch a movie and call it a day. That's where pasta and a fridge full of delicious but disjointed ingredients comes in handy— dinner in less than 30 minutes and two dirty pans.
Goat Cheese Pasta With All Sorts Of Good Stuff
1 pound pasta 6 - 8 ounces goat cheese (I used Sassy Nanny Lake Effect) 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced 1 red pepper, sliced 1 package of mushrooms, quartered 6 - 8 slices bacon 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 tbsp olive oil 1/4 cup white wine
Preparation Cook pasta. Drain, reserve 2 cups of pasta water (keep warm) and return pasta to pot. Add a little olive oil or butter to pasta to keep it from sticking.
Fry the bacon in a large sauté pan until crisp. Remove the bacon and reserve 2 tbsp of bacon fat. Add the onion, red pepper and mushroom to the pan and sauté over medium heat until vegetables softened and onions are starting to caramelize (about 8 - 10 minutes). Add the garlic and wine and continue to cook until most of the wine has reduced by half.
While the vegetables are cooking, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add whole chicken breasts and cook thoroughly. Slice and keep warm.
Place the pasta and goat cheese in a large bowl, add enough warm pasta water to make a creamy sauce, add vegetables, sliced chicken breasts and crumbled bacon, toss and serve immediately.
Totally unrelated to goat cheese pasta but I looked down while I was preparing dinner and saw the dogs totally cashed out in a row. 'Falling back' from daylight saving time has been a hard transition for my little men.