Today was my first day of vacation.  Before you get too happy for me, I took the time off to remodel the laundry room/bathroom in my basement….lots of work, but at least I’m the boss.

My husband and son are being great about helping around the house.  My son is my apprentice for the remodel.  Today we made great progress so I made dinner tonight.  This is one of the fastest meals I make.  It is also one of the tastiest.  Nothing quite like being able to make the sauce in less time than it takes to cook the pasta.  Add some grilled chicken and some steamed veggies and you’ve got a great dinner in just 30 minutes. I thought I would make a variation of my usual recipe, so I decided to add yet another layer of flavor by adding Bacon Jam.  If you haven’t tried it yet, you must not love bacon.  My guys LOVE BACON.  Just a couple of tablespoons in the sauce gives it even more flavor.

You’ll need:

Your favorite pasta, cooked al dente and drained

One quart bag of grilled chicken chunks, defrosted

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 cup walnuts

2 cloves peeled garlic

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (how to have basil year round here)

2 Tbs bacon jam

1 tsp salt (optional)

fresh ground pepper (more is better)

Put a pot of water onto boil.  Defrost your grilled chicken in the microwave

While your waiting for the water to boil….

In your food processor, combine the remaining ingredients.  Process until almost smooth.  If adding veggies (broccoli is our favorite for this dish), cut into bite size pieces and cooked until tender crisp; that’s 3 minutes in my microwave.

When pasta only has a few minutes left to cook, steam your veggies, then warm up your chicken.  To drained pasta, add chicken, veggies and sauce.  Stir until well mixed.  Serve immediately with  extra parmesan.  Note:  I like sliced tomatoes with this, sprinkled with a little balsamic vinegar and fresh black pepper. Enjoy!