I recently tried out a delicious recipe for Tuscan Chicken Spaghetti which I got from the site Twisted. The recipe gave me a great idea for a rich dinner, but I have a few suggestions and comments about the way to cook this great dish. It should be noted that I did not go by the video when I followed the recipe, only what was written. I would like to give you a feel of what it was like to make this recipe in my beautiful home kitchen. Below is the recipe from the site!

“What You’ll Need:

• 3 chicken breasts
• 8 rashers smoked, streaky bacon
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• spaghetti, cooked, for two people
• 1 bag spinach
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup parmesan, grated
• a few basil leaves

How You Make It:

1. Start by frying your chicken breasts in the oil over medium heat for 6 minutes each side. Season with salt and pepper as you go. Set aside.
2. Add your bacon rashers to the same pan and fry until crisp. Remove.
3. Add the garlic to the same pan, fry briefly, then add tomatoes. Cook down for 5 minutes before adding the spinach and cream. Cook until the spinach has mostly wilted.
4. Re-introduce the chicken and bacon, then add the parmesan and basil. Finally add the pasta and a little reserved pasta water.
5. Toss to coat, finish with a little more parmesan, then go mad!”

So, to begin, my family size is large, and this recipe lacks a serving size, number of people that it feeds, and how big the chicken breasts should be. When I began this recipe, I went ahead and began to boil water in a large pot for my pasta. Then, I measured about 2 tablespoons and a half of oil for my chicken breast, and (after rinsing the chicken) placed the chicken in a pan with the oil over medium heat. As the chicken was being cooked, I diced 2.5 tomatoes and put them aside for later. Since the chicken breasts that I was using were huge, after 6 minutes on each side, they were nowhere near cooked. So, I waited a few more minutes, turning them occasionally as I saw fit. They ended up having a nice slight brown on them, although I took the meat off before it was fully cooked in order to dice and finish cooking later. I placed the chicken on a plate while I readied the bacon.

I placed the bacon in the same pan as I used for the chicken, cooking it until crisp. I used about 6 pieces. While the bacon was cooking, I put an 8-serving box of bowtie pasta in the boiling water with a dash of salt, and timed it 11 minutes as per the box instructions. In between stirring and flipping the bacon occasionally, I chopped the spinach because unless vegetables are cut into small pieces, it is difficult for them to be eaten, if you know what I mean. I also began to dice the chicken. Once the bacon was crispy, I took it off and placed the savory meat on a plate with a paper towel underneath to soak up some of the oil dripping off of it. I placed some garlic into the pan and let it fry for a little to get the flavor in, and then took it out after the garlic was browned (still leaving the pan at medium heat).

I then placed the diced tomatoes into the pan that the bacon was in, and timed it 5 minutes. While the tomatoes were sizzling, I drained most of the water from the pasta into the sink (keeping a small amount as per the recipe asked for). Then, I set aside the pasta and got out another pan for frying the diced chicken. I put a little splash of oil on the pan and continued to cook the chicken on medium heat until it was all white. I dashed more salt and pepper on the dices as well. I also chopped the bacon into small pieces. In between batches of cooked chicken, I added the spinach and most of a pint of heavy cream to the tomatoes (after 5 minutes, as you might recall), as well as the cooked chicken and bacon.

Lastly, I put the parmesan cheese in the pan and voila! The dinner was ready. Note that I forgot to put in the basil: If I had, I would have stirred some fresh pieces in, but as my family prefers more bland food, I did not (to reduce strong flavor).

I do strongly recommend this recipe, as everyone in my house loved it and asked for more!