Bacon Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small jar (6 oz) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, or use 6 oz fat-free sun dried tomatoes
• salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (either from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes, or just use olive oil)
• paprika (just a little bit)
• 2 large chicken breasts, halved horizontally (about 2 lb)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon basil (if using dry basil), if using fresh basil you can add more
• 8 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

 Instructions

1. In a large pan, on medium heat, saute garlic and sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil) in 2 tablespoons of oil (olive oil or oil reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes jar - see note above) for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
2. Remove sun-dried tomatoes and garlic from the pan, leaving the oil, and add chicken breasts, halved horizontally, salted and lightly covered in paprika  and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side.. Cover the pan with the lid, remove from heat, and let the chicken sit, cooking in its own juices, off heat in a skillet, until completely cooked through and no longer pink in the center.
3. Remove the chicken from the skillet. Chicken could have released juices - in my case it was 1/2 cup of juices. Remove the juices from the skillet, to avoid greasiness.
4. To the same skillet (from which you removed the chicken and the juices), add 1 cup of heavy cream, bring to boil, add 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, immediately reduce to simmer, constantly stirring to melt the cheese. Add 1 cup of milk gradually, whisking until nice and smooth, while on simmer. Add back the cooked sun-dried tomatoes and the garlic. Add basil and crushed red pepper - mix to combine. Add cooked chicken breasts. Top with crumbled bacon. Reheat until warm.