I got some new Pyrex dishes recently, and have been looking for excuses to use them. A pasta bake is always a winner in our house, especially if it involves chicken and bacon. Surely, no two ingredients were better suited to accompany each other than these?

For the sauce, I decided to make an alfredo sauce ( a cream based sauce flavoured with garlic and parmesan) but was out of parmesan so cheated and used cheddar instead. To give it a little twist, I added in some Ranch sauce. Ranch is my new favourite  sauce. I first tried it on a trip to TGI Fridays and was hooked. The delicious combination of buttermilk, mayonnaise, onion, garlic and herbs had me hooked the second I dunked my fries in it.

My goodness, I cannot express how good this is. Sure, it’s heavy on the calories, but you need to make this just for the smell alone. I really wish I were able to create a scratch-n-sniff post for you.

FYI I have actually found that Ranch Dressing Sauce is quite easy to make. In fact, you can make it as a dry seasoning mix which is great sprinkled on roast potatoes before baking!

Chicken and Bacon Ranch Pasta Bake

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Serves

4

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken Breast (cooked and diced)
• 200g Streaky Bacon (cooked and diced)
• 50g Unsalted Butter
• 50g Strong Bread Flour
• 480ml Double Cream (or milk for a lighter sauce)
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
• 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 5 tablespoons Ranch Dressing
• 85g Mature Cheddar (grated)
• 350g Dried Penne Pasta

Directions

1.	Cook your pasta as per packet instructions, then drain. Stir through a little olive oil to prevent it sticking together
2.	Add the chopped chicken and bacon and gently mix through and set to one side
3.	Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the flour and stir over a medium heat for a few minutes
4.	Whisk in the cream (or milk) a little at a time stirring thoroughly between each addition to ensure no lumps
5.	Remove from the heat and stir in the garlic salt, the onion powder and the ranch dressing
6.	Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir to combine
7.	Add the grated cheddar and stir to combine
8.	Pour into an ovenproof dish, and bake in a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 4 / 180°C / 350°F for 20 minutes