CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI PASTA WITH LEMON CREAM SAUCE
Hey everyone! I’m sorry it’s been so long since I posted the latest recipe, but I’ve been through a couple of days of block in my creativity (I think the unusually low zero temperatures that we had at night in New Orleans also froze my brain!). After failing a couple of recipes this weekend, I decided to try something simpler. The Chicken and Broccoli pasta with lemon Cream Sauce is just about as easy (and tasty) as it is.
SIMPLE BUT AH-MAZ-ING.
You can’t be wrong combining chicken, pasta, and broccoli. What makes this dish special is the lemon cream sauce. It’s one of those “Woah! How can so few ingredients create something that tastes so delicious?” recipes.
When you’ve learned what you can do to prepare this sauce, you could make it for anything. …But be aware that you must use heavy cream to make this sauce. If you choose a lower-fat dairy product, it’ll make a curdle. It’s probably not the food you want to consume daily (I am talking about health reasons, not taste). So, make it every once in a while and enjoy every drop you get.
WHAT TYPE OF PASTA SHOULD I USE FOR MY CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI PASTA?
I utilized whole wheat pasta to make this, so I felt more at ease with the heavy cream issue. However, regular pasta could perform just as well. I love rotini because spirals do a fantastic job of capturing all the delicious cream sauce. I believe bowties could work pretty well.
BUY MORE TO SAVE MORE ON HEAVY CREAM
Last but not least, heavy cream is slightly more expensive in pint-sized bottles than in quart-size containers, so think about purchasing more and freezing the extra cream. It’s safe to freeze! Be sure to use a portion to make a batch five ingredient freezer biscuits. You won’t regret it.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb. frozen broccoli florets ($0.85)
1/2 lb. rotini pasta ($1.30)
Two skinless, boneless poultry thighs (about 2/3 1 lb. total) ($1.97)
One pinch of salt as well as peppers ($0.05)
One tablespoon of olive oil ($0.16)
Two cloves of garlic ($0.16)
One fresh lemon ($0.59)
1/2 cup chicken broth ($0.07)
1 cup of heavy cream ($1.80)
INSTRUCTIONS
Take the broccoli florets from the freezer and let them defrost. Once they’re sufficiently soft to cut into bite-sized pieces, place the broccoli in a bowl to thaw before you’re ready to use the broccoli thoroughly.
In a large saucepan, bring water to the point of boiling for pasta. When the water is boiling, add the pasta, and cook until the pasta is cooked. Rinse the pasta using a colander.
When the water for making the pasta cooks up, sprinkle all sides of the thighs of chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat it over a moderate flame. Add olive oil. The skillet should be tilted to coat the surface with oil. Then add your chicken thighs. The thighs should be cooked from both sides until the edges are golden brown and cooked to perfection (about 5 minutes on each side). Transfer the thighs onto a cutting board, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
While the chicken cooks, zest the lemon with an ice cream maker or a small-holed cheese grated and chop the garlic. After removing the chicken from the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, then add garlic. Sauté the garlic for about 1-2 minutes or until it becomes tender and aromatic.
Pour the chicken broth into the skillet and stir it to melt all the brown pieces accumulated in the pan. In the meantime, pour in heavy cream—Approximately one teaspoon of citrus zest and about two tablespoons of lemon juice. Stir until the mixture is well-combined, then let the cream heat simmer. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes or until it thickens. Check the sauce for flavor and alter the seasonings with salt, pepper, or lemon. Sprinkle the sauce with a generous amount of seasoning so that the flavors don’t get lost after mixing it with broccoli, pasta, and chicken.
Chop the chicken cooked into smaller pieces and mix it into the cream saucepan along with the rinsed pasta and broccoli florets chopped. Mix to cover everything with sauce. Let the broccoli, chicken, and pasta heat through before serving.
