If you’ve ever been to a Johnny Carinos restaurant, then you know how famous they are for some yummy Italian food. Especially pasta! And one of my very favorite dishes to order there is their bowtie festival pasta. Since I love it so much, I thought I should try to make it at home and see how it turned out. And since it turned out delicious, I am going to share this Johnny Carinos Bowtie Festival Recipe with you all today!
I am so happy with how it turned out. It really tastes just like the restaurant, and even if you’ve never been before, you still should try this recipe! We always used to love going to Johnny Carinos in Pigeon Forge, TN back when we had our camper.
And now, since we don’t have our camper anymore, we don’t go as often. But, I was still craving their food! So I am glad I came up with a way to bring Johnny Carinos bowtie festival home to us! You are definitely going to want to make this recipe time and time again after you try it!
So if you’re looking for some new recipes that are tried and true, definitely try this one out and see what you think!
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Ingredients Needed to Make Bowtie Festival:
Not only do you make the pasta with fresh vegetables and spices for this dish, but you also make a homemade creamy Alfredo sauce too! Which is completely to die for in my opinion!
For The Pasta:
2 oz melted butter
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup diced cooked bacon
1/2 cup diced Roma tomatoes
1/2 lb shredded, cooked chicken breasts
2 oz heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup Asiago cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 lb bowtie pasta, cooked
For The Alfredo Sauce:
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 Tbsp black pepper
1/8 cup whole milk
How To Make Johnny Carino’s Bowtie Festival
First, you need to make the homemade Alfredo sauce. To do so, bring heavy cream, milk, and black pepper to a consistent boil over medium heat.
Remove the cream mixture from heat and fold in parmesan cheese. Keep Alfredo sauce warm while making the rest of the pasta dish!
In a heated saute pan combine butter, onions, garlic, tomatoes, chicken and the spice mixture. Once the onions start to turn translucent (about 8-10 minutes) add in the heavy cream and the Asiago cheese.
Then, when the cream and cheese are reduced by half, add the homemade Alfredo sauce and bowtie pasta. Toss until everything is well coated and remove from heat.
Allow pasta dish to cool for a few minutes to allow the sauce mixture to thicken as well. Serve and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
This recipe is a little more time consuming and detailed to make. I wouldn’t say it is an easy 20-minute meal for a weeknight.
However, if you want to spend a little extra love and time in the kitchen to create this dish, it is definitely worth it! Perfect for a date night in!
But, I have come up with a few time saving ways to prepare for this dish. Such as, cook bacon and crumble it beforehand. Then, you can store the bacon crumbles in the fridge until you’re ready to add them into the pasta.
Also, cook chicken and shred it before starting too. Again, just store in the fridge and throw it in the dish when ready. You can also shred the Asiago cheese beforehand and cut up the Roma tomatoes too.
I like to have everything prepped and ready to go before I actually start cooking. That way, it makes the process go by fairly quickly!
Enjoy Your Bowtie Festival!
Well, I hope you enjoyed this Johnny Carinos Bowtie Festival Recipe and I hope you will try it out yourself sometime too! Trust me, you will love it! If you’re a pasta lover like me, then this dish is for you!
And this copycat recipe makes it taste just like you’re in Pigeon Forge at the actual restaurant itself! So, if you make it too, let me know how it turned out for you below as well! I hope you love it just as much as I do!
Johnny Carinos Bowtie Festival Recipe
Ingredients
For The Pasta:
- 2 oz melted butter
- 2 tsp minced fresh garlic
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1/4 cup diced cooked bacon
- 1/2 cup diced Roma tomatoes
- 1/2 lb shredded, cooked chicken breast
- 2 oz heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup Asiago cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1 lb bowtie pasta cooked
For The Homemade Alfredo Sauce:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tbsp black pepper
- 1/8 cup whole milk
Instructions
- First, you need to make the homemade Alfredo sauce. To do so, bring heavy cream, milk, and black pepper to a consistent boil over medium heat.
- Remove the cream mixture from heat and fold in parmesan cheese.
- Keep Alfredo sauce warm while making the rest of the pasta dish!
- In a heated saute pan combine butter, onions, garlic, tomatoes, chicken and the spice mixture.
- Once the onions start to turn translucent (about 8-10 minutes) add in the heavy cream and the Asiago cheese.
- Then, when the cream and cheese are reduced by half, add the homemade Alfredo sauce and cooked bowtie pasta.
- Toss until everything is well coated and remove from heat.
- Allow pasta dish to cool for a few minutes to allow the sauce mixture to thicken as well. Serve and enjoy!
This was delicious! I assumed that the bacon would be added with the additions in step 4. However, bacon tends to get a little soggy when sitting in a cream sauce. So I sprinkled on top at the end with fresh chopped parsley and a little extra cheese
Oh that is such a good idea! I will have to do that next time too so the bacon doesn’t get soggy. Thanks for the recommendation!