Baked Penne Pasta with Chicken Alfredo Sauce

By jab120638

Ingredients

• 1- 16 ounce box penne pasta
• 5 Tbsp. butter
• 2 chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally
• 1 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups half and half
• 1/2 red pepper, cut into bite size strips
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 cup Asiago cheese
• salt and pepper, as desired
• 1 Tbsp. Cajun spice
• 1/2 Tbsp. Italian spice

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 50mins
Adapted from grabandgorecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Cook pasta according to package directions.
Preheat oven on 350F.
While pasta is cooking slice the chicken in half horizontally by placing one hand flat on top of a chicken breast and, holding your knife parallel to the cutting board, slice it horizontally from the thick end to the thin end.
Season chicken with some cajun and Italian seasonings. Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet (cast iron if you have it) or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until chicken is cooked though and browned on both sides. Remove chicken from skillet. After chicken is cooled down, cut them into bite size strips.
Add red pepper strips into the skillet and on high heat sauté them for 1 minute. Remove peppers and set aside.
Add rest of the 2 tablespoons of butter into the skillet; add garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes.
Pour in the broth, half and half and heavy cream; bring it to a boil.
Add ¾ (reserve rest of the chicken for the top) of the chicken into sauce, stir well and let it simmer for about 3-4 minutes.
Add 3/4 cup Parmesan and 3/4 cup Asiago cheeses; stir well until cheese well melted. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper to your taste.
Combine pasta with the sauce mixture and pour into the deep baking dish. Place rest of the chicken (reserved earlier), sautéed red peppers on top of the pasta mixture. Sprinkle with rest of the Parmesan and Asiago cheeses.
Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with Italian parsley and serve immediately.