Recipe

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• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 tsp minced garlic cloves
• 6 oz evaporated skim milk
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 4 oz cream cheese, cubed
• 1/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tbsp basil, dried
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 8 oz dry pasta ( i use barilla gemelli)
• 8 oz bacon, raw (i use half of a 12 oz. package of oscar meyer center cut instead)
• 16 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 oz broccoli florets
• 12 oz brown button mushrooms, diced
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 14 oz diced tomatoes, canned
• 8 oz shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)

• 1 Steam broccoli in water. Reserve water to cook pasta.
• 2 Cook the pasta following the directions on the packaging. Add more water if necessary. Reserve pasta water for the mushrooms (Step 5) or for thinning out the sauce in last step.
• 3 Cook the chicken using your preferred method then dice. I cut mine into small strips and poach them using my Citrus Poached Chicken With Citrus Honey Sauce.
• 4 Dice the bacon and cook on medium high in a skillet until crisp. Remove to paper towel lined bowl to drain. If desired, use the remaining bacon drippings to brown the onions. If not, move to step three.
• 5 Brown onions in non-stick skillet on medium high using cooking spray. Once slightly brown, add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are done. I like mine a little softer so once the liquid evaporates I usually add about 1/2 cup of pasta water or water from steaming veggies and allow that to evaporate, too.
• 6 Brown garlic in butter on medium high. Whisk flour into evaporated milk and add to garlic. Whisk constantly and bring to a soft bubble. Usually 5 minutes. Add skim milk and bring back to bubbling.
• 7 Set tomatoes to drain. Reserve liquid for another use.
• 8 Add cream cheese and stir until melted. Add Parmesan cheese and stir until melted.
• 9 In a large bowl pour the sauce over the pasta, chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, bacon, and tomatoes. Mix slightly to incorporate, then add the shredded cheese. Mix well.
• 10 If sauce seems a little thick and too sticky, add some of the pasta water (about 1/4 cup at first) to thin it out a little.