A light, summery meal

Despite the fact that is was over 90 degrees yesterday, I wanted my special linguine with the bacon/shallot/pea alfredo sauce and parmesan chicken, so that's what I made. I swear I've blogged about both items, but my mad research skillz cannot find those entries, so I shall write of them now.

First, the parmesan chicken. A knockoff of many recipes. Pound chicken breasts flat, cut into reasonably-sized pieces. Dredge in flour. Then egg. Then a seasoned bread crumb/parmesan cheese mixture. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter over medium heat. When hot (sizzling hot), add breaded chicken and cook until dark and crispy. I use this base when I make regular Chicken Parm with pasta as well.


The crowning glory of the meal is this luscious pasta (notice the red sparkly spoonula). In a large, deep pan, cook 3 slices of bacon until crisp and remove to paper towels. Meanwhile, in a large pot, boil lots of water, add lots of salt, and cook a pound of dried linguine or other string pasta according to package directions minus one minute. Add 3-4 tbsp butter to the bacon fat and saute one chopped shallot until softened. Add 1 to 1 1/2 c heavy cream and a smashed garlic clove. Add a pinch of nutmeg. Add a lot of pepper. Cook until the cream thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Add 1 c parm cheese, about 1 c frozen peas, and the cooked bacon (crumbled). When the pasta is slightly underdone, add the pasta to the cream mixture. Add a bit of pasta water to make the pasta flow. Then you enjoy it. And you'll likely enjoy it for several days, as you can see, a pound of pasta is a lot.

Definitely not a light dish, but v. high yum.