Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta with penne, sautéed chicken breast strips, broth, heavy cream, goat’s cheese, parmesan, lemon and asparagus! Easy midweek meal perfect for spring!
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When spring arrives, I find almost every excuse to cook fresh asparagus that we bring home from the market. This is an easy pasta dish with asparagus and chicken breast.
The lemon juice brightens the sauce and a hint of nutmeg adds a finishing touch.
Feel free to play around with this one! Swap out a different cheese or experiment with different herbs like thyme or basil, or even add some spiciness with some chili flakes.
Creamy pasta with chicken and asparagus
ingredients
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1 lb asparagus Spears, hard ends cut off and discarded, spears cut diagonally into 1″ to 1 1/2″ pieces
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3/4 lb Penne or Fly Noodles
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2 tablespoon butter
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1 lb Boneless chicken breasttrimmed of excess fat and tendons and cut into 1 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch strips
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Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper
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3 tablespoon chopped shallots
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1/4 Cup chicken soup
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3/4 cups fat whipped cream
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1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
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5 ounces goat cheese
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1 teaspoon Lemon peel
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1 Cup grated parmesan cheese
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1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
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1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
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1 tablespoon Freshly squeezed lemon juice
method
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Blanch the asparagus:
Bring a large pot of salted water (1 teaspoon salt per liter of water) to a boil. Add asparagus and blanch for 1 minute. Place in a bowl with a slotted spoon and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Put aside
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Cook pasta:
In the same water you blanched the asparagus in, add the pasta and cook al dente according to package directions while you cook the chicken.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water to add back to the pasta if needed.
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Fry the chicken strips and shallots:
Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken strips to the pan in an even layer. Season with salt and pepper. Do not stir, cook until lightly browned on one side. Add shallots, cook 1 minute longer.
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Add the broth, heavy cream, nutmeg, cheese, lemon zest, herbs, and most of the parmesan:
Cook, stirring, until cheese is completely melted and incorporated into cream.
(Reserve the rest of the Parmesan to sprinkle on top before serving.)
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Add asparagus:
Bring to a simmer and simmer for a minute.
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Stir in lemon juice:
Sprinkle with more black pepper to taste.
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Place noodles in a serving bowl. Stir in the chicken and asparagus cream sauce:
Add enough of the reserved pasta cooking water to give the pasta a creamy consistency. Serve with reserved grated parmesan.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 504 | calories |
| 28g | Fat |
| 25g | carbohydrates |
| 39g | protein |
