Chicken and Bacon Pasta

Was looking for a pasta dish I could put chicken and spinach in and came across this one...It had me at "bacon". I mean look at that  picture...yum! This was so good! I'll be making this one often!. Original recipe found HERE.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast (2 frozen Costco size defrosted)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp Italian herb seasoning (thyme, oregano, basil)

2 cups cherry tomatoes cut in half (or you can use roma tomatoes cut up)  

2 cups fresh spinach

2 tbsp of minced garlic (5 cloves minced)

1 tbsp crushed red pepper (or less if you don't like things too hot)

6 bacon strips, cooked, drained and broken into pieces. 

1/2 -1 cup half and half

3/4-1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

10 oz penne pasta (I used Catelli gluten free)

grated parmesan and red pepper flakes for serving. 

Directions

1. Cook bacon however you like, drain and set aside. 

2. Cut up chicken breasts into strips (not too thin). In a large skillet, on high heat, heat 2 tbsps of olive oil until hot. Add chicken and cook on one side for about a min. Sprinkle uncooked side with paprika and Italian seasoning. Flip the chicken over and sprinkle more seasoning on the other side. Cook again for about a min. Keep flipping if needed and cook until no longer pink. Remove from pan and keep warm. 

3. To the same pan, add chopped tomatoes, spinach, garlic, crushed red pepper, 1/2 of the chicken and half the bacon pieces. Mix everything. Cover and cook for a bit until the spinach cooks down. 

4. Add half and half to desired consistency. Depending on how juicy your tomatoes are you may not need all the half and half. Bring to a boil. Once boiling add the shredded Parmesan cheese-immediately reduce to simmer and stir while simmering until the cheese melts and makes the sauce creamy, only about 1 min. Then, immediately remove from heat. 

5. In the meantime, cook pasta as directed on packaging. Drain. 

6. Add pasta to the skillet with the sauce and stir to combined.  Add remaining half of bacon. To serve, top with Parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes and chicken strips.