Monday, March 9, 2009

Easy Lemon Pasta with Chicken


I received this recipe from a friend who had recently made and served this easy weekday dinner to her family. One reason I was drawn to it was the use of the lemon.

The original recipe called for the juice of two lemons, which was too tart for my children's palates. I altered the recipe to use the juice of one lemon, but then served lemon wedges with the meal for people who may enjoy the extra lemon boost, like my husband.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound dried penne pasta
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt
Lemon Pepper seasoning
3 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, roughly chopped
2 lemons
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line 9 x 13 baking pan with aluminum foil and place chicken breasts in pan. Generously season with salt and lemon pepper seasoning. Roast in oven for 25 minutes, or until golden and completely cooked. Thickest portion of chicken breast should reach internal temperature of 160 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, until al dente. Drain well.


3. In a large mixing bowl, add the juice from 1 lemon and parsley. Mix well. Set aside.


4. When chicken breasts come out of oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute until fragrant and slightly browned, 2 minutes. ***Note*** I almost always add more garlic than what a recipe calls for...this time I used 5 garlic cloves instead of 3 as the recipe states.


5. Add cooked pasta and mix thoroughly with garlic-oil mixture. Turn off heat and transfer to bowl containing lemon-parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.


6. Slice roasted chicken breasts into 1/2-inch sections and place on top of warm pasta.


7. Top with Parmesan and serve with lemon wedges.


Yields: 5 servings
Each serving contains: Calories 380 ; Total Fat 13.1g; Saturated Fat 3.2g; Cholesterol75mg; Sodium 178mg; Total Carbohydrates 50.8g; Protein 14.3g

Recipe from FoodNetwork.com; Modifications mine.

4 comments:

suz said...

That looks very yummy.

imkc said...

Made this for dinner tonight. It was yummy and as I was putting the leftovers away I realized it would be yummy cold too. Thanks for sharing.

Christina @ Still Lucky said...

This sounds delicious. I love lemony pasta dishes.

Mamahollioni said...

Christina--Me too! Lemon + pasta = happy family.