Penne Parnassus

This pasta dish is another of our own creations. It got its name from the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. We were watching this great movie whilst chomping on a wonderful plate of this dish. It is a very tasty sauce and quite filling as well. The honey gives this sauce its sweetness whilst the bacon balances the palate by providing the necessary saltiness. Also, as cooked chicken, I roasted 4 small drumsticks, took the meat off the bone and diced the chicken meat. It gave the dish  an added delicious roast chicken flavour, but you can easily used chicken breast. These ingredients are for 3-4 people, again depending on how big your portions are. Feel free to adapt adequately. Hope you will try it and enjoy it!

• 300g penne
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 200g diced cooked chicken breast
• 100g bacon, cut into small pieces
• 100ml single cream
• ½ teaspoon dried sage
• 200ml chicken or vegetable stock (I used a Knorr stock pot)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• Grated Parmesan or Kefalotiri cheese, to serve

How to...

1. Start by roasting the chicken drumsticks. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put them in an oven dish with a griddle in it and season with ground black pepper. Roast the chicken pieces for 30 minutes, leave to cool and dice the meat. If using chicken breast, grill the split the chicken breast until golden on both sides and then chop into small dice. Set aside.
2. Fry the onion in the oil until transparent and soft. Add the bacon and cook until brown and crispy.
3. Add the chicken to the bacon and stir well.
4. Add the pepper, sage and 2 tbsp of honey. Stir fry for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the stock and reduce the stock on a high heat.
6. In the meantime cook the pasta.
7. When the stock is reduced, add the cream. Stir well and heat slowly on low heat, make sure you do not boil the cream.
8. Mix the sauce with the cooked pasta and sprinkle with the grated parmesan or Kefalotiri cheese.

Enjoy!!
R&A