Chicken and Bacon Carbonara - Gluten Free

Cheesy carbs! What more can I say! However if you have a gluten allergy or celiac disease, cheesy carbs can turn into a disaster for your belly really fast. Fortunately, Barilla makes some good gluten free pasta. Unfortunately, it is still hard to find a cheese sauce recipe that doesn't use flour as a thickening agent in the sauce. Carbonara sauce is a great and almost tastier alternative to traditional alfredo sauce. The main sauce ingredients include eggs, cheese, and milk. No gluten here but all the wonderful taste!

Step 1: Ingredients and Tools

Ingredients

4 slices of bacon
2 chicken breasts
1/2 box of gluten free spaghetti noodles
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk or cream
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1 Tablespoon diced garlic
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced tomatoes
1/4 cup pasta water
Ground pepper to taste

Serves 4

Tools

Large frying pan or wok
Cutting board
Knife
Pot
Medium-large size mixing bowl
Stirring utensil
Colander or strainer
Whisk
Baking sheet
Aluminum foil

Step 2: Chop Chop Chop

Prepare your veggies

Slice your 1/2 cup of tomatoes.
Dice your 1/4 cup bell peppers.
Place them on a greased foil covered baking sheet.
Put the baking sheet in the oven on broil making sure to monitor them.
Dice your 1/4 cup of onion and set aside.

Prepare your meat

Cut your bacon into thin strips about 1/4 x 1/2" and set aside.
Cube your chicken breasts and set aside.

After your tomatoes and red peppers have a nice roasted coating, remove them from the oven and set aside.

Step 3: Start Cooking

Pan fry your bacon on medium heat until crispy. Using a slotted or mesh spoon, remove the cooked bacon and set aside leaving the bacon grease.
Cook the garlic and onion in the remaining grease on low-medium heat.
After the onion has begun to get a little caramelized add the cubed chicken to the pan and fry on medium-high heat until the chicken starts to brown on the outside.
Turn heat to the lowest setting and return bacon to the pan.
Remove tomatoes and peppers from the baking sheet and mix in with the chicken.

Step 4: Start Noodles and Sauce

Fill a pot with water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and bring to a boil on high heat.
While waiting for water to boil, put your two whole eggs and two egg yolks in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
Once water boils put your gluten free noodles in the pot and cook by following the package instructions.
Strain noodles but reserve some of the pasta water.
Slowly pour noodles into the egg mixture while stirring them together quickly. This is a very important step. You need to mix them together quickly to help prevent the egg mixture from becoming cooked scrambled eggs from the hot noodles.
After the noodles and eggs have been mixed, stir in a 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water.