Lemon Chicken Pasta

We had some chicken in the fridge that needed to be used and D felt like pasta for dinner, so I sent him off looking for a nice recipe that used pasta and chicken and he found this recipe from taste.com.au.

Despite a little bit of a false start when I discovered that our evaporated milk was actually past it's use by date and a frantic search for another tin, it was really easy. It's a perfect after-work dinner when you don't really want to think. We didn't use the peas or fresh thyme, but finished the sauce with some dried thyme leaves.

It was really lovely. I'm a sucker for lemon flavours and love creamy pastas, so this couldn't be any more perfect. D enjoyed it also. It wasn't heavy like a lot of cream-based sauces, but just lightly coated the pasta. We will definately have this again.

Unfortunately, I was a little shaky-handed with the camera, so you get a lovely photo of the sauce in the pan and a blurry photo of the finished dish.

Lemon Chicken Pasta
from taste.com.au

1 tbs cornflour
1 x 375g can evaporated milk (we did use Light and Creamy Carnation Milk)
Olive oil spray
400g sliced chicken breast fillets
1 brown onion, halved, thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbs finely grated lemon rind
2 tsp dried thyme leaves (ours are a little old)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
approx 300g dried pasta of your choice - we used penne

Combine the cornflour and 1 tbs of the evaporated milk in a medium bowl. Gradually stir in the remaining evaporated milk.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Spray with olive oil spray to lightly coat. Pan fry the chicken until brown.

Reduce heat to medium. Spray the base of the frying pan with olive oil spray to coat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic. Increase heat to medium-high. Add the milk mixture and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until sauce boils and thickens.

Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute or until heated through. Remove from heat. Add the lemon rind, and thyme. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water following packet directions or until al dente. Drain well and return to pan. Add the sauce to the pasta and gently toss to combine.

Spoon the pasta among serving bowls and serve immediately.