Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

recipe taken from Chef in Training

Talk about a DELICIOUS pasta dish. We absolutely loved this recipe. Will definitely be added to our dinner rotation! 

Ingredients:

• 10-12 oz. penne or ziti pasta *I used rigatoni, leftover from our Italian Pasta Beef Bake night.
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 (8 oz) block cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder more or less to taste
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt more or less to taste
• 1 1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese separated
• 2 chicken breasts cooked and cut into strips *Somehow I forgot about cooking chicken, so used some frozen grilled strips I had in the freezer - we ended up just pulling the chicken out in the end - will definitely cook my own chicken next time! 
• 3/4 cup bacon cooked and chopped *I used already cooked bacon (also from refrigerated section at the store) - a real time saver! 
• 3/4 cup diced ham *Who knew that you could buy alread cooked and diced ham in the refrigerated section?! Brilliant! 
• bread crumbs *I used Italian seasoned bread crumbs, yum!

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to its package's directions. Drain. I always add a little olive oil after I drain it and stir in around so the pasta noodles don't stick together or the pot.
2. Heat cream cheese on stove over medium low heat until melted. Stir in heavy cream. Stir until completely combined. Add onion powder and garlic salt until it tastes how you would like it to. Stir 1 cup of cheese until smooth consistency.
3. In a 9x13, layer noodles, chicken, bacon and ham. Pour sauce over top. Sprinkle top with 1/2 cup cheese and bread crumbs.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until heated through.