Who does not love comfort food?
Not that I have ever needed an excuse to eat - come winter, summer, rain or shine, sad or happy, eating is one of my hobbies.
I love pasta in all forms and with different trimmings - it is versatile and can be used to feed many with only a little added meat or sauce.
I make this very easy dish and everybody loves it. Unfortunately I am not the type of person who invents recipes or can give you exact measurements - I am more of a add to taste kind of girl.
So this is not a laid out recipe, it is instructions on what to do - taste as you go along and I promise you this is so easy, anybody can make it.
PLEASE NOTE - this is no gourmet dish with exotic ingredients - so if you want that with professional pics, this is not the post for you (but it sure tastes better than a lot of gourmet dishes I have eaten).
I do not like to cook for hours (I prefer someone else making the food - I am better at eating, so everything tossed in one pot is just another great thing about this.
One of the major advantages of this dish and any other dish you want to make using pasta - you can decide how much of something and what you will add - experiment, you will be surprised on all the variants you can make using pasta.
For this dish, you will need
- pasta (enough for the amount of people you will feed - my family loves pasta so I need a lot)
- onions (to taste)
- diced bacon (the more the merrier)
- mushrooms (leave it out if you do not like it)
- chicken breasts cut into small pieces (again as many as you like)
- cheese (cheddar for the sauce and your choice of cheese to sprinkle over the dish if you love cheese)
- cheese sauce (you can use the store bought packet cheese sauce or make your own by using flour, butter, milk and cheese) Here is the recipe if you do not know how to make your own cheese sauce.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan. (about 3 heaped tablespoons.)
- Stir in the flour ( enough to make a paste) and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Take the pot off the heat and gradually stir in the milk to get a smooth sauce. Simmer a while and add more milk if the sauce is too thick. Keep on adding more milk until the sauce is thin enough to pour.
- Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes and season with salt and white pepper. (remember to stir every now and then)
- Stir in cheese and allow to melt.
You can even make this in the microwave - just stir every now and then.
Now lets get started with the rest...
- chop and brown the onions, then add the chicken and bacon and lastly the mushrooms and cook and brown till ready (you can add salt, pepper and origanum or herbs and garlic to your taste - leave out what you do not like)
- cook the pasta and strain it (for the non-cooks ...that means throw it in a strainer and rinse with water), remember to add salt
- add everything together in the pot
- make your cheese sauce, add to the pot and let it slowly cook through for a few minutes
- dish up and sprinkle some extra cheese of your choice over it
and whala.....ready to enjoy. Easy peasy. (You can replace the chicken and bacon with mince if you prefer)