Cream Sauce for Pasta

This is my favorite way to make pasta and the possibilities are endless with the simple yet delicious cream sauce recipe. I hope it becomes a staple in your home as it has in mine.

Ingredients for sauce:
10 slices of bacon, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup chicken broth (I dilute 1 tablespoon of chicken base into a cup of water)
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed in a small amount of cool water

Additions at our home:
Seasoned Chicken, diced
Shrimp
Mushrooms
*you can add anything you'd like to make the meal your own
cooked pasta

Begin by frying bacon, once bacon is almost done add in onion and turn heat down to medium low and saute until onions are almost translucent (don't cook them all the way because they will continue to cook in the sauce) Drain mixture on a paper towel and throw out excess oil that was left in the pan.

At this point I cook whatever meat I will be using for my pasta recipe. I often use shrimp or chicken. (You can also marinate the chicken in any flavor you choose the McCormick grill mates marinades that come in the small packet that you add oil, vinegar and water to are my favorite. If you do this your sauce will also pick up the flavor that you marinated in. I like to use the chipotle pepper seasoning to make a spicy chicken pasta)

After I cook the chicken until almost done I always add in mushrooms (we love mushrooms at my house) then add in the bacon/onion mixture. Add in the chicken broth then the whipping cream then the Parmesan cheese. Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down to low and continue to cook on low. I always taste the sauce to make sure its exactly how I like it and you can add more cheese or whipping cream depending on what you like. The sauce should not be mild because the sauce is going over pasta so it will mellow out some then. Do not season with more salt because there is salt in the bacon and the chicken broth. You can season with pepper if you'd like. After about 5-7 minutes on a low boil add in the cornstarch and cook until the sauce thickens up about 2-3 minutes. Add this mixture over your favorite pasta for a Delicious meal.

The sauce itself will take on any flavor you want it to. I've added fresh herbs in the summertime such as basil, oregano, parsley to add a boost of flavor. You can adjust the seasonings however you'd like. This recipe feeds my family of 2 adults and 1 child (who eats a lot) and there is usually enough left over for us all a small lunch the next day. I also butter some barbecue bread and bake it to go along side of it. You can also add garlic if you like a garlic cream sauce. Basically this sauce is a chameleon and will be great with any additions you can think of. I haven't tried artichokes yet but I bet they would be great too!

Buffalo Chicken Taquitos

1-2 lbs chicken breast
1-2 T buffalo wing sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
10-20 egg roll wrappers
Oil for frying or a fry daddy
Small cup of cool water

Season chicken with salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and baked through. Let cool and shred.

Add buffalo wing sauce depending on how hot you'd like your taquitos to be. I added enough so that the taste was just spicy enough. But after they fry the taste mellows out so I recommend adding a little more.

Lay out one egg roll wrapper and and wet the edges with your fingers. Put some of the chicken mixture (about 2 T, don't make them too big because you don't want the filling coming out) in one corner of the egg roll wrapper. At this point you can add anything you want, I added about a tablespoon of mozzarella cheese. Other recipes I've seen added blue cheese, broccili slaw or cabbage. It was very delicious with the mozzarella cheese though...made me think of the chicken taquitos we get at the mexican restaurant (hence the name).

Making the egg roll wraps:
Begin by rolling up the corner until you have overlapped the chicken mixture completely (tuck the corner of the egg roll wrapper into itself over the chicken, then bring in the sides one at a time to make an envelope. More water may be needed to seal the seams. Then fold the top of the envelope down adding more water to seal if necessary. Repeat with the remaining egg roll wrappers, I used 14 wrappers, but you may need more or less depending on how large you make your taquitos.

I layed all my egg roll wraps on a baking sheet lined with paper towels so they could drain after frying. Another recipe I found baked them in the oven for 400 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes. In order to do this you will need a cooling rack inside a baking pan and you will also need to spray the wraps with oil to get a crispy texture on the outside. I haven't tried them this way but I doubt they will get as crispy as frying in oil.

Heat oil to 400 degrees F. Add 2-3 taquitos into the oil at a time, fry until golden brown (about 5-7 minutes). Repeat until all taquitos are fried up. I also fried a plan chicken one for my son because I didnt think he would like the spicy sauce on his.

I served our Buffalo Chicken Taquitos along side a salad and it was a delicious dinner. Will definitely be making these again. They are also great dipped in ranch dressing as I'm sure they would be great with blue cheese dressing. They are also just good by themselves. These would be a great treat for a superbowl party or any party! Hope you enjoy!

This was a great way to change up the menu and I think I will be putting a lot more items into an egg roll wrapper!