Chicken, Bacon and Spinach Cream Sauce

I don't usually cook Italian food, but I was invited to a party where we all had to bring something Italian or at least Italian-inspired. Originally I was thinking of bringing a sort of stew that I saw in an Italian cookbook back home in Australia, but something creamy was in demand. So I decided to try my luck at making a cream based pasta sauce.

Ingredients:
1/4 kilo sliced chicken (breast or thigh meat)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup cream
1 bunch spinach (boiled until mashy)
1/4 kilo bacon (diced)
1 whole onion (diced)
1/2 clove garlic
2 tbsp flour
1 cup mushrooms (button mushrooms are best, but couldn't find any here in Japan)

Procedure:
1) Saute the garlic, then add the onion and stir-fry until caramelized. Set aside.




2) Saute the bacon until slightly crispy. Saute the mushrooms until
cooked. Set aside.









3) Saute the chicken until slightly brown. Make sure that the chicken is fully cooked before setting aside.
4) In a separate pan, heat the milk until just before boiling point. Turn the heat off.

5) When the milk has cooled off, add the parmesan cheese, butter and cream. Whisk until all are combined.
6) Add the flour and whisk again.




7) Add the spinach. The reason why the spinach has to be mashy is because I want the sauce to be smooth.





8) Mix in the chicken, bacon, garlic and onions and bring to a slow boil to make sure that the flour is cooked.
9) Pour over your favorite pasta. You can also eat this with rice or bread.