Penne Rustica

I think experience has taught me that I love anything with rustica tacked on the end. And I always love a new pasta dish. This is a copycat recipe from Macaroni Grill. It didn't taste very similar to the Penne Rustica I love from the restaurant, but it was still very good. Bobby absolutely loved it. I was glad because of the stroganoff I pulled on him on Tuesday. He is not a fan. Every couple of years I get a craving for beef stroganoff. It's so weird, and every couple of years I give in and make it. I am always disappointed. I think nothing ever measures up to the beef stroganoff my cousin Stephanie made for us when we were first married. I'm going to call her and ask for that recipe. That will be a weird phone call for her. "Hey, do you remember that dinner you made for us six years ago? Can I get the recipe?"

Anyway, this recipe was definitely a keeper. I just recently discovered pimpmydinner and this is the first recipe of hers I've tried. Looks like another good resource for ideas. I served it with macaroni grill bread, just so our copycat cooking could be consistent. I did make a change. I didn't feel like buying marsala wine, so I used 1/2 red wine and 1/2 apple juice. Since I know next to nothing about wine, I don't know how big of a mistake this is and how much it affected the overall taste of the dish. The instructions for this recipe are not very detailed, so I'm going to add my changes here. I really only made a third of this recipe and still had enough to fill an 8x8 and freeze for another night, so this makes a ton! Also, I didn't use all of the sauce I prepared.

Ingredients:
12 oz. grilled chicken breast (marinate in olive oil and garlic salt overnight, then grill on barbecue for best flavor)
½ pack thick bacon
16 oz. penne pasta
1 large red bell pepper- diced
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tsp paprika

Gratinata Sauce:
2 tsp butter
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/2 cup marsala wine (I used 1/4 cup apple juice and 1/4 cup red wine)
1/2 tsp dijon or dry mustard
1 tsp salt1 tsp chopped rosemary
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
3 1/2 cups heavy cream
mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Sauté garlic in butter in large pan for a couple of minutes. Add marsala wine and boil until it reduces by half. Add mustard, salt, rosemary, cayenne pepper, and heavy cream and allow to cook until sauce thickens. Cook pasta according to directions. Cook bacon. Slice chicken into medium-bite size pieces.Combine sauce, cooked pasta, diced chicken, cooked bacon, bell peppers, parmesan cheese, and paprika and mix thoroughly. Spread in pans. Top with chopped rosemary and mozzarella cheese.

Bake @ 475 for 10 minutes. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator the day of. Cover with foil and bake @ 375 for 1 hour. Remove foil during the last 15 minutes.
Preparation Time: More than an hour