Some pasta tastes light and fresh- you eat it and feel refreshed. Some pasta does not. This pasta is the latter. It’s thick and creamy, and you can feel it sticking to your bones. In a good way.
When I started cooking for myself, I promised myself that I would try more types of food, including re-trying food that I didn’t like and thus hadn’t eaten in years. Meet ham, a former mortal enemy of mine. I have never liked ham (except for ham lunch meat sliced so thin it becomes translucent).
I started out by trying Canadian bacon, thinking my subconscious wouldn’t think I was eating ham since it is labeled as bacon. So first I tried it on my pizza. Not only did it not make me gag, I loved it. But I questioned whether it was my love of pizza, pineapple, and cheese that made me tolerate the ham or not. So I decided to try it with pasta.
So now I have developed a tentative relationship with ham. This dish was good, but it was a little too hammy for my personal taste. People who like ham and chicken cordon bleu will like this pasta. It is a good hearty pasta for fall.
8 ounces linguine
Olive oil
8 ounces chicken breast, sliced
5 ounces Canadian bacon, chopped
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
6 ounces blue cheese
1 cup green peas
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook linguine according to pasta instructions. Drain and set aside.
Heart skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to coat pan. Cook chicken breast for 6-7 minutes. Add Canadian bacon and continue to cook until bacon browns, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a small saucepan, whisk together flour and 1/4 cup milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking in remaining 1 3/4 cup milk and Dijon mustard. Cook for 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to thicken. Add blue cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat.
In a large serving bowl, combine linguine, blue cheese sauce, peas, Canadian bacon and chicken breast.
Serves 4.
