This had to be my family’s favorite dinner so far this year. It's light and flavorful and perfect for Summer. I loved the combination of lemon, basil and garlic. Mmm - I wish I had leftovers!
Ingredients:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 lemons
2 T Red Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
1/2 lb Fettuccine (I used this)
2 medium zucchini
1 C shredded parmesan cheese
5-6 cloves garlic (I got a little nervous using this much garlic - but DO it!)
Fresh Basil (about 1/2 C)
Fresh Oregano (about 1/4 C) (I used a couple dashes of dried oregano)
Directions:
Place uncooked chicken in a zip-lock bag with the juice of one lemon, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and a couple tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Let sit while you start on the pasta and zucchini. (I bet it would be even better if you let it sit a few hours or overnight.)
Put the pot on the stove to boil water for the pasta. While you're waiting for the water to boil, slice the zucchini in half length-wise. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Press, or finely mince garlic cloves. In a small sauce pan on the stove, place 1/4 C olive oil and add garlic. Turn burner onto low-med heat. It shouldn't be popping and frying, it should just slowly warm, infusing the oil with the garlic and removing that zing fresh garlic has. (This gives the whole dish an amazing flavor and texture- no dressing or other sauce needed.)
Remove chicken from bag. Cut up, cook and brown chicken (I used this method). After chicken is cooked (or in another pan) start cooking the zucchini. Make sure you don’t overcook them - it doesn’t take too long!
While chicken and zucchini are grilling and pasta is boiling, chop herbs and get out cheese. Zest both lemons and juice the one that hasn't been juiced.
When pasta is finished, drain and immediately place in a big bowl. Place chopped zuch and chicken on top. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, herbs, and garlic-olive oil mixture. (I also added a few pine nuts on top which were delicious!)
Now take some tongs and give everything a big toss. If you feel it needs more moisture, add a little of the pasta water, or a little more olive oil. This will make 4 generous servings.
Garnish with a little more Parmesan on top and another squeeze of lemon if you have any left.
Original recipe found
here.
Up next at Our Sweet Lemons... Zuppa Toscana Soup!
Posts
I could use a little taste of Summer about now. The six inches of fresh snow in my gardens is screaming Winter. I'm off to buy zucchini!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I forgot to buy lemons! Now I have to wait to make this... it looks so yummy!
ReplyDeleteSo do your kids eat the Zucchini? When mom fed us zucchini as kids I think more of it ended up in our napkins than in our belly's :) And do YOU like zucchini???
ReplyDeleteMy kids like zucchini! At least I THINK they do....
ReplyDeleteThis. is. so. good.
ReplyDeletePreparing this was a bit of a struggle for this rookie cook. I was almost finished, just needed to drain the noodles. The pot I was using was one of those that has holes in the lid so you can drain it without using a strainer. I didn't hold on tight enough and it all went slithering down the drain. I thought about trying to salvage it, but decided to cut my losses and boil some new noodles.
Finished product was delicious. A friend who tried some said it was great, but too much lemon. I laughed...there's no such thing as too much lemon!
Finally got around to making this, and it WAS good. The Zucchini didn't even bother me:)
ReplyDelete