The BoyChild and I. Love it. Even though when my hubster is gone, I miss him terribly, I really do treasure the time with my son immensely. It was just he and I for awhile when he was younger, and it is a natural dynamic for us...so I try to make the most of it and really treat him with his favorite things. That boy kills me...completely melts me!

My Hubster travels overnight fairly often (wahhhhhhh) for work, so on those nights when he's gone, I let the BoyChild pick what we have for dinner. Now last night, we went to Red Robin....well, first we went to a movie.....a KIDS MOVIE.....

THEN Red Robin. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Dirty Bird, did my time and learned to love the corporate restaurant game with them, but dang. Red Robin.

Needless to say, I am happy to be cooking. (Always) And tonight, we just stayed in.....he requested my homemade Alfredo sauce with chicken....and tortellini. Since I have yet to brave "not flat" pasta, we let Buittoni take the pasta game for tonight....because mom's gots stuff to do.

Ingredients & Procedurals:

3/4-1 pound boneless skinless chicken cutlet
Package of pasta of choice (we used three cheese tortellini)
3 oz pancetta, sliced into strips
package tortellini-we like 3 cheese
2 cups Heavy Cream
3 clovers garlic, smashed and chopped into paste
2 cups real parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
poultry seasoning (recipe below)
evoo

I season thinly sliced chicken breast, or cutlets (about 3/4 of a pound) with my homemade poultry seasoning, and set it aside to get happy for a bit. While the chicken is hanging out, I take my pancetta and slice it into strips (my local Freddie's only had thin sliced, and I really didn't want to go out to my specialty butcher shop), and then put about a tbsp of EVOO into my saute pan on medium heat.

Into heated pan, add pancetta strips, and move around and make happy until crispy. remove and drain on paper towels on a plate. In same pan, add seasoned chicken on medium high heat to get good color on chicken...after about 5 minutes, flip chicken breast cutlets to brown and cook JUST through on other side. *IMPERATIVE!* don't overcook chicken breast....we have all eaten enough of them to clue us in as to why we don't want to overcook them....(DRY! Choke Choke!) I then remove the chicken from the pan and set aside to carryover cook and rest. In same pan, warm up the garlic paste in all that yummy sear (chef term alert....that is called fond) and fat left on the pan from the pancetta and chicken....warm through until it is becoming transparent.

Add heavy cream to it....about 2 cups. Set water (well salted H2O, if you please...remember...season every step) to boil, and add pasta. Cook to instructions on package, if going the Buittoni route, like this mom.

I let the garlic creamy goodness simmer for about 15 minutes, reduce the heat to mid low, then start adding in 2 cups of fresh grated Parmesan at a half cup at a time, stirring often, to make sure it is incorporated after each half cup, and simmer to reduce slightly. Continue to stir often.

When pasta is cooked, drain (don't rinse) and add to pan sauce. Toss thoroughly, let it all combine, and plate. I top with a sprinkle of Parmesan and the crispy pancetta. SOOOOOO GOOD, Mason asked for seconds. Enjoy!

Poultry Seasoning:

In a Weck/Mason jar, add:

3 tbsp salt of choice ( I use Sea Salt)

1 tbsp each

Onion Powder
Garlic powder
Dried Dill
dried Thyme

1 tsp each:

Fresh cracked black pepper
smoked paprika

.....soo good on chicken and turkey....fish too!