Pasta

Pea Pasta with White White Reduction Sauce

Here’s what you’ll need:

1/2 cup of white wine;

1/3 to 1/2 cup of chicken broth;

1 small tablespoon of flour

1 lemon

chopped basil;

diced garlic;

diced shallots;

3 tablespoons of butter;

2 cups penne pasta;

1/4 cup of peas; any kind works here.

kosher salt & pepper.

Start off by boiling enough water for 2 cups of penne pasta.

Once the water starts to boil, add in the pasta and begin to heat up some olive oil in a sauce pan or skillet. Throw in a 3-finger pinch of kosher salt into the boiling water. Cook the pasta until al-denté or about 8-10 minutes.

Gently sauté the shallots until the get fragrant, and then add in the garlic with about 2 tablespoons of butter.

Let it sizzle up for about 30 seconds before adding the white wine in. Mix well, reduce heat to low, and simmer the mixture until it reduces by about half.

Slowly add in the chicken stock and the flour, mix well, and continue to simmer until it thickens into a good sauce. You should be able to scrap a spoon on the bottom and it takes about 1 second to come together.

Add in a few squeezes of lemon, chopped basil. Add in about 1/4 of drained peas.

Drain pasta, keep about 1/4 cup of the water. Pour pasta and remaining water into the skillet/saucepan to mix in with the sauce.

Garlic Lemon Herb Chicken

This recipe had been done again and again, but it’s a great 30-minute meal that simple and tastes fantastic!

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts;
1/2 shallot diced into small pieces;
3-4 Garlic cloves (I love garlic, so however much you want here is great);
Basil and parsley shopped into small fragments. Again, your discretion for how much herb flavor your looking for. I found that 1/4 cup of the combined chopped herbs is plenty.
Enough flour to cover the chicken with (approx. 1/4 cup);
4 tablespoons of butter;
1 large lemon, or 2 small lemons;
1/2 cup of chicken stock;
kosher salt and black pepper.

Start off by butterflying the chicken breast. This is where you cut the breast in half working from right to left. So it kind of looks like a butterfly. This is a good technique to cook chicken faster.
Season the chicken with kosher salt and pepper.
Lightly coat the chicken with flour and shake off the excess.
Heat olive oil on med-high heat in a cast-iron skillet until it just starts to smoke.
Place chicken in the skillet– it should sizzle immediately upon touching the surface.
Flip the chicken once the bottom has a golden brown crust, about 5-8 minutes.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter into pan, along with half of your lemon juice. Place the left over rinds in the skillet to char with the chicken.
add about half of the shallots in the skillet and season herbs on top of the chicken.
After another 5-8 minutes, check bottom of chicken for the crust and remove from the skillet. Turn heat to low.
OPTIONAL: throw a handful of spinach into the pan for a quick sauté that you can add on as a garnish at the end. Once done, remove and set aside.
Melt remaining butter and shallots in skillet, add garlic, and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add remaining herbs, and lemon juice (toss those rinds out).
Add chicken stock and a spoonful of flour (for thickening).
Stir well until it is all blended and bubbling.
Take sauce off of heat and pour over chicken.
Let rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

I love this recipe because it’s so quick and easy to make, cheap ingredients, and tastes amazing. Serve it over pasta, brown or white rice, vegetables, or mashed potatoes!

Paired nicely with a 2011 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR.

Enjoy!!