Food For Friday: Royana's Bowtie Pasta

This a wonderful, light, summer pasta dish. Instead of a heavy cream or marina sauce, a light coating of olive oil provides a base for the other flavors to shine through. I love to make this dish for guests and prepared a big batch for an end-of-the-year celebration dinner I hosted on Monday for my small group girls. Add a salad and a loaf of crusty garlic bread and you have a delicious dinner!

Ingredients:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 lb. Bowtie Pasta
1/2 lb. Lean Bacon, chopped up into small pieces
3 Grilled Chicken Breasts
Chopped Garlic (to your liking...I use 3 large cloves)
Cayenne Pepper (to your liking...start with a little)
2 Avocados
Basil, fresh, chopped (approximately 6 tbsp.)
3-4 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
Fresh ground Black Pepper to taste
Fresh Parmesan Cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Grill chicken or brown it on the stovetop. Chop into small pieces and set aside.

In a large saute pan, fry the bacon until crispy over medium heat. (I use a papertowel to absorb some of the bacon grease at this point, but you can use all of the bacon grease for flavor if you would like.) Add the onion, garlic & cayenne pepper and saute until the onion is browned and soft.

Add the basil and olive oil. The idea is to have enough olive oil to cover all the ingredients & pasta once they are put together, but not too much oil. You can always add more later if needed, so error on the side of not enough oil. I never measure, but add maybe 1/4 to 1/2 a cup?

Stir in the cooked pasta and mix to coat. Mix in the chicken and tomatoes and toss together. Throw in a generous handful of fresh parmesan and mix in, allowing the cheese to melt. Pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and mix in the chopped avocado. Enjoy!