Lemon Cream Pasta With Chicken

As I mentioned a few days ago, Hubby was off New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, which is a first for us.  We rented 5 or 6 movies and spent two days in our jammies watching our rentals and playing and eating a fabulous NYE meal.  So, I thought I would share this recipe with you, my bloggy friends.  This recipe is from one of my favorite recipe blogs, Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  Check her out! 

The recipe I made is for Lemon Cream Pasta With Chicken.  But first, you have to make the chicken.

Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken




Juice of 1 lemon, approximately 3 tablespoons


3 tablespoons olive oil


1 teaspoon minced garlic, about 2 medium cloves


1 teaspoon salt


1/4 teaspoon pepper


1/2 teaspoon dried oregano


1 pound chicken breasts (I usually cut really thick chicken breasts down to thin them out and make the pieces a little smaller so they absorb the marinade better)






Combine all marinade ingredients. Place chicken in a ziploc bag and pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag and place in fridge overnight. Grill (or cook in frying pan). Serve with sides of your choice or cut into bite sized pieces and add to desired recipe (I’ll be sharing a few with you soon). Note: If you cut your chicken into smaller, bite-sized pieces and then marinate it, you can get away with only letting it marinate for 5 or 6 hours instead of overnight.

Now for the Lemon Cream Pasta.



Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken


Serves 4-6



3 cups shredded or cubed Lemon Garlic Chicken

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 (16 ounce) package tube pasta (I used rigatoni)

2 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded  (Um, I added more like 3/4 cup)



DIRECTIONS

In a large saucepan, season the chicken broth with the garlic powder and pepper. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.

Stir chicken into cooked pasta, along with the cream, parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir thoroughly before serving.

MMMM!  I very much enjoyed this dish.  It was a lot like Chicken Fettucine Alfredo, but more lemony and it doesn't have butter so I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say it's at least a little bit healthier.  Don't ya think?  That's what I'm telling myself anyway. 

We all enjoyed it. Well, my oldest thought it was too lemony, but we're not counting her opinion.  Everyone else loved it.  Well, L can't have it because it has wheat and milk.  But, I made him his version of it.  So, basically, 4 out of 6 of us loved it.  2/3rds.  That's pretty good for our household!  Hubby said we should definitely add it to the rotation of stuff we cook regularly.  Bad news is, we're now trying to be healthy.  Guess it'll be in the once in awhile rotation, but definitely worth the extra calories!!  MMM!

See that bowl in the picture?  That's my bowl.  I think that's a healthy portion size, don't you?  Too bad I refilled twice.  I couldn't help myself!  Oh well!  I'm paying for it now with Melba Toast and Laughing Cow cheese for lunch.  UGH!  I miss you Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken!