Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Linguine alla Carbonara

Goat cheese  – where have you been all my life?? I know I’ve had you here and there.…on a crostini, in a dip; maybe in a recipe that I wasn’t quite sure if you were there or not.

But I haven’t had you here.

This kids….

is Goat Cheese de-luciousness.

That’s right, I said it.

It’s a word.

After I made this dish, and was completely excited by how perfectly the flavors blended together, how the goat cheese complemented the peppers so well….and how the chicken was sufficient but yet the bacon added an extra kick that took it from great to fantastic. So, I was reminded of a book. Not just any book.

Yes, we are going down memory lane. Stay with me – come on…just for a minute!

My son’s very favorite book when he was little was Dr. Seuss Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!. I can recite the entire book by memory because we read it so much. This book is about thinking…what I’m getting to here is creativity.

By the way, he will be turning 16 in August. Good Lord.

Wait…that means he’ll be driving a car by himself. Jesus, that’s two months from now. I’m not ready!!

{deep breathing}

…

{gets a glass of chardonnay}

Anyway.

There are certain lines from the book that stand out to me:

“You can think about red. You can think about pink. You can think up a horse. Oh, the thinks you can think!”

See…that is a great example of how vast your creative mind can be. I know I don’t use mine to the greatest capacity, but I would love to. So many times I have this ingredient, that ingredient, a full pantry…but can’t fully get a hold of my creativity no matter how much I want to. I hate that!! I so want to be creative and just play but my brain will not cooperate. Maybe we should take a time out and read Oh, The Thinks You Could Think.

I really think we all have the ability to dig in deep and use the creativity we know we have – however finding/using it is the hard part. Sometimes. For this particular recipe, and other random ones before it, it was so easy to pull from within and use it.

So, I want you to find the Think you can Think!

“Oh, the thinks you can think if only you try….if you try you can think of a Guff going by….”

WTF is a Guff?

Email me if you happen to have this confidential Dr. Seuss information.

So now let’s move on to the recipe….

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Linguine alla Carbonara

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled (or baked, or broiled, or whatever), cut into chunks

1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup whole cream (whipping cream)

1/2 cup milk (I actually used fat free – all I had and even though I felt heavier milk was warranted – I was not about to run to the store)

2 oz goat cheese

Roasted red peppers – I used about 1 to 1/2 peppers according to size (these were from a 12 oz jar) – feel free to use more

Parmesan cheese

1/2 lb. linguine, cooked

Ok, you will have your chicken and bacon prepared and ready to go into the pasta, right? And the pasta boiling? If not, do that.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and garlic until you can really smell it. Add the goat cheese, cream and milk and whisk to make sure the cheese melts and gets incorporated. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes and remove from heat.

Add the sauce, peppers and parm in a food processor and process until smooth. Or almost smooth.

Your pick.

Pour over pasta and mix well, salt and pepper to taste. Top it off with more parm.

If this looks borderline pornographic I apologize. I know it’s a close shot. I just want y’all to see the sauce, cheese, bacon, chicken…

Up close and personal.

It was truly divine.

Back to orientation at the hospital in the AM!

xoxo