Creamy Pasta with Lemon Pepper Chicken

I found this recipe for creamy pasta with lemon pepper chicken in the tear out "30 minute meal" section of my cook's country magazine. I thought it would be a good weeknight meal, so I decided to try it out. The creamy sauce was very similar to the ricotta pasta I already make, so nothing too exciting there, but the chicken was excellent! I really liked the lemon pepper sauce. I would make this again, maybe even doubling the sauce and using it to coat the pasta instead of the cream sauce. Or the chicken would be great over a salad as well!

Creamy Pasta with Lemon Pepper Chicken

2-3 thin sliced chicken breasts (I got tired of pounding chicken, so I buy thin sliced now for skillet preparations)

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of one lemon

8 oz spaghetti or other long noodle

1/2 C parmesan

1/2 C ricotta

Dried parsley

1. Bring water to boil for pasta.

2. In the meantime, season chicken with salt and pepper.

3. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in skillet over medium high heat and cook chicken about 4 minutes per sized until cooked through. Transfer to cutting board and tent with foil. After resting for 5 minutes, slice crosswise.

4. Add an additional tbsp oil to skillet and return to medium heat. Cook garlic and several grinds of black pepper until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

5. Add lemon juice and simmer until reduced to about 1 tablespoon.

6. Add chicken strips back to pan and off heat, toss to coat. Cover to keep warm until pasta is ready.

7. Boil pasta according to package directions. In meantime, combine ricotta, parmesan, parsley and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Add about 1/2 C pasta water to thin to sauce consistency.

8. Toss sauce with pasta and serve with chicken on top.

Difficulty: Medium

Debbie's Rating: 10 for the chicken, 8 for the pasta/ sauce

Hirsh's Rating: