This recipe was mostly born out of the fact that I wanted pasta but didn’t have the ingredients to make any other sauce, but it turned out great so I thought I’d share. The bright and fresh lemon sauce is delicious and so easy to make, and it contrasts well with the spicy chicken (though feel free to adjust heat level). Recipe makes 2 servings.

Ingredients

• 8 oz pasta of choice (I used rigatoni)
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 4 tbsp cream cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
• 2 cups reserved pasta water
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne (adjust according to heat preference)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F and set a large pot of water on the stove to boil.
2. Season the chicken with salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, paprika, and cayenne to taste. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil and massage the spices into the chicken.
3. Heat a pan over medium-high heat and spray with nonstick spray. Once the pan is hot, sear the chicken for a few minutes on each side until a brown crust develops. It will not be all the way cooked through, we just want it to get some color.
4. Remove the chicken from the pan and transfer to a sheet tray. Place the chicken in the preheated oven and bake for about 13 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 F on a meat thermometer. Once cooked, remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
5. While the chicken finishes cooking, cook your pasta according to package directions. In the last minute of cooking, add in the broccoli florets to quickly blanch. Reserve 2 cups of the pasta water before draining (though you probably won’t need it all).
6. For the sauce, heat the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan (I used the same pan I seared the chicken in). Add in the minced garlic, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
7. Add in the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water (use more or less depending on your desired consistency). Whisk until a sauce comes together.
8. Add in the parmesan and lemon juice and whisk again until smooth. At this point, taste for seasoning. I added a little Italian seasoning and the accumulated juices from while the chicken was resting.
9. Add the pasta and broccoli into the sauce and mix well. You may need to add some more pasta water for it to come together.
10. To serve, plate the pasta and sliced chicken with some red pepper flakes, lemon zest, and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!

For a video tutorial, see below!