Recipe 52: Chicken Carbonara and Yucca
Wrapping up the year with our favorite recipes
This is one of the many recipes that Aaron and I want to share with you. We are overjoyed for you to come with us on our journey as we put together different concoctions and laugh together (all while hoping to not burn our apartment down). Please enjoy these recipes as much as we have. We welcome you to a small, but intentional, part of our lives.
If you would like to read the post that accompanies this recipe, check it out here.
What You’ll Need
For Chicken Carbonara
- 4–6 Slices of Bacon
- 2 Chicken Breasts (diced)
- Salt and Pepper
- Italian Seasoning (2 teaspoons)
- Paprika (1 teaspoon)
- Garlic (2 cloves)
- Spinach, fresh (2 cups)
- Tomatoes, diced (4 small)
- Heavy Whipping Cream (1 1/2 cups)
- Parmesan Cheese (1 cup)
- Red Pepper Flakes (1/2 teaspoon)
- Penne Pasta (10 oz)
- Olive Oil
For Yucca
- 2 Large Yucca Roots (find them in your produce section — usually by the ginger roots)
- Olive Oil (1 Tablespoon)
- Chili Powder (1/2 teaspoon)
- Salt (1 teaspoon)
- Pepper
- Baking Sheet
- Cooking Spray
How We Did It
For Chicken Carbonara
- Begin by cooking pasta according to your brand’s instructions. Set aside once cooked.
- Fry bacon on a skillet (or bake in oven at 350 degrees for 13–15 minutes).
- While bacon is cooking, dice chicken breasts into 2 inch pieces (wash your hands after!).
- Pour approx. 1 Tablespoon of olive oil into a skillet. Add chicken and cook on medium-high heat.
- Add salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, and paprika to chicken in a skillet. Mix well and cook for approx. 2–3 minutes on each side (4–6 minutes total).
- Dump in spinach and tomatoes and mix well. Allow spinach to shrivel (stir occasionally to help it along).
- Once the spinach is shriveled, add in heavy whipping cream, Parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes. Mix well and let simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add cooked pasta and bacon. Mix well and let it simmer again for another 2 minutes (or until it is thoroughly heated).
- Serve in individual bowls and enjoy!
For Yucca
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
- Remove the skin from the yucca with a large knife or heavy duty peeler (be extremely careful here — because the skin is waxy, they are tough to cut).
- Once skin is removed from the root, chop the yucca flesh in long slices.
- Please sliced yucca into a large pot and fill with water.
- Heat on stovetop until the water begins to boil. Let it cook in the boiling water for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, strain and rinse the yucca.
- Place it in a large bowl and top with olive oil, chili powder, salt and pepper and toss gently.
- Line yucca on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking oil.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
10. Serve warm (great with sriracha!)
A Final Note
Aaron and I had so much fun cooking this recipe together. We loved putting our own spin on it but we do need to give credit where it is due. Find our original posts as well as the original recipes here: