This Summer Pea Pasta with Lemon Pepper Chicken is a light and lively dish! Quick to pull together and delightfully flavorful: the perfect mid-week meal!
It’s been several months since we’ve had a Cooking Light recipe of the month post! This is completely out of character; I am usually a total Cooking Light junkie (umm and here). But now seems to be the perfect time to reintroduce the tradition since the Wedding Fairy has mandated that we morph briefly into American Heritage Cooking Light pre-wedding.
This Summer Pea Pasta is a nice light and lively pasta! I served it with an easy lemon pepper chicken to round out the meal. It was quick to pull together and delightfully flavorful: the perfect mid-week meal.
The base for the pasta sauce has 3 tablespoons of butter and I felt like I was cheating on my agreement with the Wedding Fairy, but I decided that if the recipe came from Cooking Light, she must approve. Right?
Summer Pea Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked pasta ([I used Trottole because it’s cool looking. I’m shallow like that])
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 5 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)
- 2 cups frozen green peas (thawed)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons torn fresh mint leaves
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
- ½ cup pasta cooking liquid
- 2 chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Juice of 1 medium lemon
Instructions
To Prepare the Pea Pasta:
- Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain pasta over colander reserving ½ cup cooking liquid. Run cold water over pasta to stop cooking.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add peas and sugar; cook 2 minutes stirring frequently. Sir in cooked pasta, reserved ½ cup cooking liquid, and lemon juice. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Sprinkle with salt, mint, and lemon zest. Toss to combine and serve immediately.
To Prepare the Chicken:
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- While bringing water to a boil for the noodles, trim, rinse and pat chicken dry with paper towels. Sprinkle both sides with pepper and salt. Heat pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan.
- Brown chicken on both sides and then pour lemon juice over breasts. Bake in preheated oven 5-10 minutes until a minimum internal temperature has reached 165°. Time will vary by thickness of breast. Let rest while you prepare and serve with summer pea pasta.
Notes
This sounds nice and light - perfect for summer! I also love the pasta shaw, I don't think I've ever seen it before!
It is definitely a summer dish. In the Fall / Winter I want heartier pastas dishes! But I will absolutely be making them with this new pasta. It's just too cool!
This looks so light, perfect for summer. Great pasta shape as well, not one you see often! Thanks for sharing this recipe! 🙂
Thanks Brandon! I am positively obsessed with trottole now!
LOL...I must be shallow, too, because I love the pasta you chose for this! I haven't seen Trottole around here, but I will be looking for it! Beautiful summer dish!
I saw it for the first time a few days ago at Kroger (not sure if you have that!) and I'm kind of obsessed!