Creamy lemon chicken pasta

Ingredients

Quantity

Ingredient

About 500g

Chicken breast

About 250g

Linguine

Shallot (large, or 2-3 small)

2 cloves

Garlic

15ml

All purpose flour

500ml

Chicken stock (or 2 chicken buillon cubes and 500ml water)

375ml

Cream (full fat)

Lemon

125ml

Parmesan (grated)

A bunch of

Fresh basil

A fair amount of

Butter

A pinch of

Salt

A pinch of

Black pepper

A pinch of

Gochugaru (can be omitted)

The recipe works quite well with chicken thighs as well, or you could also just grab the meat of an entire whole chicken and use it. It’s not a big difference.
The original recipe calls for peas being added into the mix. That certainly works, especially if you want to eat more veggies. Personally though I think the recipe is better without them.
If you dont have fresh basil then you’ll just have to do without it. When I dont have any fresh basil lying around I usually add a fair bit of dry basil when initially frying the chicken the first time around.
Obviously you don’t have to use linguine for this recipe. Spaghetti or any similarly shaped pastsa works just as well.

Finely dice the shallot.
Finely dice the garlic.
Zest the lemon, then juice it and set aside.
Grate the parmesan cheese and set aside.
Cut the chicken into smaller even pieces, about 2x2cm.
If using fresh basil, cut off a large sprig and wash it. Wash and chop some more basil and set aside.

In a large pot or dutch oven, melt some butter over medium-high heat. Then add the chicken and season generously with salt and pepper (and dried basil if using).
Cook chicken until golden brown but not cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate.
Add some more butter to the pot, once melted add the shallots and season again with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook until softened for about 1-2 minutes.
Add the garlic and gochugaru (if using) and cook while stirring for max 1 minute. If unsure, err on the side of not burning the garlic.
Add the flour and stir for about another minute max.
While whisking, add the chicken stock a little bit at the time so that the flour doesn’t clump.
Add the cream.
Add the chicken back into the pot, together with the dried pasta. Make sure that its covered by the liquid. If it is not covered by the liquid then add some more chicken stock and cream.
Add a large sprig of basil (if using fresh basil).
Bring to a slow boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Cover with a lid and cook for about 10-15 minutes. Adjust the heat if necessary so that it keeps simmering while covered.
Remove the large sprig of basil (if using fresh basil).
Add in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook for an additional minute.
Stir in the parmesan and the chopped fresh basil (if using).
Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed with salt and pepper.