"What's for dinner tonight?" 01.28.2013

Dinner tonight, went from this:

To this, sans the mushrooms and add some leftover rotis chicken ala Costco:

I've always wanted to make homemade alfredo sauce and tonight was the night. I've only ever used either the packet that you mix with water or the stuff in the jar. Tonight I did neither of those. I scoured the internet for varying recipes, thanks to Pinterest and allrecipes I was able to come up with something of my own... and man was it tasty :), happy bellies all around.

ingredients
1 stick of unsalted butter
4 cloves of garlic
1 T flour
4 oz of cream cheese
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Italian cheese mix (asiago and romano cheeses)
1/2 cup mozzarella and parmesan cheese mix
2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
1 cup leftover rotiserrie chicken (optional)
1 lb of pasta of your choosing
3 bacon strips cut into small pieces and cooked until crisp
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: cook your pasta as per package directions, drain and set aside, do NOT rinse. While you are waiting for the water to boil and the pasta to cook, cook up your bacon until it's nice and crispy remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. In a separate pan melt your stick of butter at a low temperature, make sure not to burn it. When the butter is melted add your crushed, chopped, or even grated garlic cloves. I used my microplane grater to get them nice and fine. With a whisk, add 1 tablespoon of flour and incorporate it nice and good. Let it cook for a bit to get rid of that flour taste. Next add the 4 oz of cream cheese and let it melt, continuing to stir with the wire whisk. Next add the 1/2 and 1/2 and heavy cream, continuing to stir then add your cheeses. Make sure to keep stirring with your wire whisk so you don't end up with a big old clump of mess. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. In a bowl, put the cooked pasta, peas, chicken, and bacon toss around and then top and coat with your homemade alfredo sauce. Mix throughly, put in bowls and top with more cheese.

The tot, my youngest child, is a hard sell as she doesn't have a very big palate. Spaghetti with red sauce is a no no in her book. Bacon is a no no too. Peas are often hit or miss, so I wasn't quite sure how she would handle this meal. She does like macaroni and cheese though, so I figured she might like this. And thankfully, she loved it. Loved it so much she had 2 servings worth.

Disclaimer: by no means is this a recipe for those watching their waistlines. If you like rich meals and REAL ingredients, this is for you