This cheesy white sauce is perfect for any pasta but works best with spaghetti or cavatappi. I favor butcher bacon as it's the best bacon on the planet!
Kids attacked the leftover pasta and ate the bacon and sun-dried tomatoes before I was able to get a photo!
Ingredients
- spaghetti: 1 pack (16 ounce pack)
- skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to an even thickness: 4 piece (5 ounce)
- salt: 1 tsp (to taste)
- black pepper: 0.5 tsp (to taste, freshly ground)
- olive oil: 1 Tbsp
- slices bacon: 3 piece
- sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil: 0.5 jar (8 ounce jar, chopped)
- garlic: 4 clove (minced)
- basil: 1 tsp (dried)
- pinch red pepper flakes: 1 piece (or more if needed)
- milk: 1 cup
- cornstarch: 1 Tbsp
- chicken broth: 2 cups
- mozzarella cheese: 1 pack (8 ounce pack, shredded)
- Parmesan cheese: 1 cup (grated)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and a liberal amount of salt to the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and transfer to a large serving bowl. Reserve 1 cup pasta water.
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While pasta is cooking, coat chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
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Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned, about 3 minutes per side. Remove chicken and chop into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
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Add bacon to the same pan and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain bacon slices on paper towels and cut into small pieces.
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Add sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes to the bacon fat and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken and bacon and reduce heat to just above a simmer. Stir in milk and cornstarch. Add chicken broth, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese; stir and simmer until well mixed and cheeses have melted.
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Slowly add 1/2 cup pasta water to the sauce; stir and allow the sauce to thicken up to desired consistency, adding more pasta water as needed. Pour sauce over pasta to serve.
