Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta

This spring pasta dish has delicious crisp tender asparagus and bright sweet bell pepper with chicken and a creamy alfredo-like sauce.

I'm a little late posting today and I'm absolutely blanking on what to write for my little paragraph. So let's break the fifth wall a little. My husband was talking to me recently about how reddit was having conversations about how food bloggers talk too much and they have to scroll past a novel to get to the recipe. Years ago, it was a big thing for bloggers to improve upon their story-telling and write stories for each post. This has never been a strong suit of mine when I don't have anything to talk about. I'm a talkative person and can be rambly, but not all the time. So my posts typically are pretty short and I like that. I was glad to hear that a lot of people really don't care about it and just scroll past the words to get to the recipe. I'd be lying if I said I didn't do the same thing a lot of the time. Do you guys read the stories in food bloggers' posts?

Okay, now to talk about this recipe really quickly. This pasta recipe is similar to an alfredo sauce but not 100% alfredo. I love that it has asparagus and red bell pepper. It's a great spring recipe. It's not one pot, but it is pretty close, so it's nice to not have a billion dirty dishes to clean!

(Print)
What you need:

• 12 oz. penne pasta
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 lb. asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. minced garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan
• Chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water al dente according to package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder.
3. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat.
4. Cook chicken until browned on each side and cooked through. Remove from pan and keep warm.
5. In the same skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat.
6. Add asparagus, red bell, and onion and cook until crisp tender, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring every once in a while. Remove from pan and keep warm with chicken.
7. In same skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil and all of butter over medium heat. Scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet.
8. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and flour and whisk until thickened and smooth.
9. Add milk and chicken broth slowly while whisking.
10. Add Parmesan and whisk until smooth and creamy.
11. Add chicken, veggies, and cooked pasta to skillet and toss to coat with sauce.
12. Top with chopped parsley and serve.

Recipe from I Wash, You Dry

I adore chicken pasta meals like this Slow Cooker Pesto Mozzarella Chicken Pasta. This Creamy Pasta with Salmon and Asparagus from Foodie Crush looks like the perfect spring dish - and more asparagus pasta is always a plus!

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