One of the great things about being a food blogger is that I am constantly exposed to all kinds of recipes. I read a lot of food blogs daily and I have learned so much about food preparation this year since I started blogging. I always enjoy eating good food but I wasn’t as knowledgeable last year about all kinds of recipes, cooking techniques and how to present food deliciously.
As I pick up cooking tips and adore food photos, I also learn a lot of quick meal recipes from others. One of my go to recipes when my life gets too hectic is pasta dish. The other day when I was checking my foodie friend Fern’s blog To Food with Love, I learned about this Chicken Scallopini. I have never prepared chicken this way and I was intrigued to try. I used chicken tenders because kids can easily break apart the meat and eat on their own. This is a perfect weeknight meal if you are running out time to prepare dinner and it’s delicious! Enjoy!
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Chicken Scallopini with Lemon Butter Pasta
Ingredients
- 6 chicken tenders
- kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 8 oz spaghetti
- ½ onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 6 slices applewood smoked bacon
- 5 sprigs thymes (fresh)
- 6 mushrooms
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ lemon (squeezed)
- kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Pound the chicken tenders with meat pounder to flatten them. Season them with salt and pepper. Diced onion and bacon into small pieces and slice garlic.
- Start boiling water to cook pasta in a large pot. When the pasta is cooked, drain water but please remember to keep ½ cup of the water that was used to cook the pasta. Set aside if the pasta sauce is not cooked yet.
- Meanwhile in a large frying pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Fry the chicken on both sides until slightly browned. Transfer onto a plate and set aside.
- In the same frying pan, sauté the onions and garlic for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the bacon and cook until onions become translucent.
- Add the thyme and mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms become soft.
- Add the tomatoes, cream, butter, and lemon juice. Bring it to a simmer and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you add bacon, it’s already salty so be careful not to make it too salty (keep in mind the pasta will make the sauce more bland). Remove from heat.
- By this time pasta is cooked already, so add the pasta in the pan and toss it in the creamy sauce. Slowly stir in the pasta water to loosen up and thin out the sauce.
- Add the chicken to the pan and toss lightly so that chicken will warm up. Serve the pasta on the serving plates, top with the chicken and sauce. Garnish with arugula and sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
