I received an email the other day from allrecipes.com again...and once again, the recipe caught my eye. It was a lemon butter chicken pasta...yummmmmy! Right up my ally! However, one of the first things I noticed about this recipe is that it had over 900 calories and 60 grams of fat! YIKES! The original recipe can be found at allrecipes.com, and looks absolutely delicious. But, I do have to say, that the one below came out absolutely wonderful, with probably HALF the fat and calories.
The original recipe called for a CUP of butter...YES A WHOLE CUP! WOW! Then, you bread and fry the chicken, and cook everything else in the bacon grease! YIKES...
I cut the butter in half (actually a little more than half), used a combination of heavy cream and half n' half, and grilled my chicken. I also used olive oil instead of bacon grease to mix everything together in the end.
Finally, I used whole wheat pasta instead of the regular farfalle it called for.
I am sure my version was still pretty calorie ridden and fattening, but I must say it was absolutely delicious, and we never missed the added fat!
INGREDIENTS
• Lemon Butter Sauce:
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 5 tablespoons heavy cream (or half n’half for healthier version)
• 1/2 cup butter, chilled
• salt and pepper to taste
•
• Chicken and Pasta:
• 1/2 pound dry farfalle (bow tie) pasta (I used whole wheat penne)
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 ounces bacon
• 6 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 6 ounces artichoke hearts, drained and halved
• 2 teaspoons capers, drained
• chopped fresh parsley for garnish
DIRECTIONS
1. To make the sauce, pour the wine and lemon juice into a saucepan over medium heat. Cook at a low boil until the liquid is reduced by 1/3. Stir in cream, and simmer until it thickens. Gradually add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time to the sauce, stirring until completely incorporated. (I only used 6 TBS of butter instead of the full ½ cup) Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, and keep warm.
2. While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
3. To make the chicken, butterfly it, and add a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. I grilled it for 16 minutes (8 on each side).
4. While the sauce is cooking, pasta is boiling, and chicken is grilling, cook the bacon by itself. When finished, place it in a paper towel to soak up the grease.
5. Stir the bacon, mushrooms, artichokes, and capers into the oil; cook until the mushrooms are soft. (I used a clean pan and just used some olive oil…you can cook it in the bacon grease if you like)
6. Cut the chicken breasts into bite-size strips, and return them to the skillet. Stir half of the lemon butter sauce into the chicken mixture.
7. To serve, place pasta in a large bowl. Stir the chicken mixture into the pasta. Taste, and adjust seasonings. Stir in additional lemon butter sauce as desired. Toss well, and garnish with parsley.
ENJOY!!
