Back to Chicken Breasts (with Pasta)
CHICKEN CHICKEN CHICKEN. LOL. Last month, I decided that I’ve favored the beautiful chicken thigh/leg meat to breast meat for far too long. I always choose it due to the fact that it has a deeper flavor profile during stews and marinades… which is true, but that doesn’t mean that breast meat isn’t delicious too!
Thankfully my local QFC (Think the midpoint between a Safeway and a Whole Foods) had a great deal on locally grown organic chicken breasts so I picked up 2-three pound packages and portioned out two breasts to each zip top bag, tagged them with “what” and “when” and threw everything in a freezer. It was even cheaper than breaking whole chickens down themselves! All I have to do now is pull them out in the morning and when I get home, I have two beautiful chicken pieces to work with!
Chicken breasts don’t need long to cook, so I made a quick saute of chicken scallopini with a lemon-caper sauce on pasta with mushrooms and arugula. Instructions follow bellloooowwwwww:
Cut 1 chicken breast in half lengthwise, lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top and pound each slice out with a mallet / pan until thin – about 1/3 of an inch’. Coat chicken with flour, Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper and preheat a pan over medium high heat. Add oil (I used a mixture of olive and canola -eyeballed 2 to 1 ratio) and wait for wisps of smoke and CAREFULLY lay the chicken AWAY from you so oil doesn’t splatter on your favorite shirt. Cook until golden brown on one side and then flip for another minute.
Once you pull the chicken from the pan, drain excess oil and add minced shallot and garlic – about 1 tablespoon each. When fragrant, add red pepper flakes (1 tsp) and 1 cup of tasty white wine. If you’re also making pasta, add about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, some sauteed mushrooms and arugula. Reduce by half, take off the heat and whisk in 3 tablespoons of butter cut into small cubes.
Combine the sauce and drained pasta (I used spaghetti, would’ve liked linguine!) and top with crispy chicken. Garnish with parsley, Parmesan cheese or toasted nuts and serve.
The meal was brought to you by Ella and Louis Again
It’s a simple dish that has a bit of crunch, a creamy sauce, peppery notes from the arugula, earthiness from the mushrooms and a bit of brightness from the lemon juice. Perfect for a weeknight meal, but unfortunately, it doesn’t allow for leftovers the next day. Hee hee.
YAY CHIX + PASTA 
~Spec
