Time is taken in this dish to allow for simmering so that the cream sauce is rich and absorbs all the flavours of the chicken, bacon, cheese, onion and garlic.
As written, this recipe is quite bland, but with a few easy adjustments, it became an AMAZING side dish that got (muffled, from a full mouth)incredibly good feedback from the boyfriend. I used 1/2 2% milk and 1/2 cream, but almost a 1/3 cup of grated asiago, and it was perfect and creamy. Also, skipped the butter and just threw the garlic and onion in at the beginning of rendering the bacon. I left out the chicken, as that was my main dish, but cut the bacon into larger chunks and it was great! Also doubled the garlic amount, and added salt, pepper, cayenne, and red pepper flakes to liven it up a bit. At the end of sauteing the veggies i threw in about 8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms, and it was phenomonal!! Tossed the cooked pasta with fresh chopped parsley, olive oil, pepper, and a little parmasan and served with Mushroom and Swiss Chicken (see review)...I thought my boy was gonna fall to his knees and start to sob from sheer appreciation! - 01 Sep 2005 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
This is a fabulous recipe, especially if you follow some of the other suggestions in the reviews. Definitely use the 1 cup of asiago cheese for the real flavor of the cheese. I also substituted 2% milk for one of the two first cups of cream. I could have done without the sundried tomatoes. I realized too late that they should have gone in first thing so they could soften up and provide the flavor they were supposed to. I also used about 1/4 cup of chives in place of the green onion for color and for a less pungent onion flavor, the red onion provides plenty of that. A fabulous recipe, well worth the effort! Enjoy! - 18 Dec 2002 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
Made a few minor changes and thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Changes: Did not use bacon Used half milk, half cream Used olive oil for veggies, added a bit of butter for taste Doubled garlic Used 3/4 c asiago Added 1/4 cup chardonnay with initial cream and tomatoes Soaked sun-dried tomatoes ahead of time and simmered sauce after tomatoes went in on really low heat for about 15 minutes. Had to add a bit more milk. I think simmering the sauce with the soaked tomatoes really helped their flavor dispense. - 17 Oct 2005 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)