Lemon Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
Seared chicken and broccoli tossed with pasta in a bright lemon sauce, finished with parmesan and lemon zest. A light, high-protein dinner that comes together in one pot and one pan.
- Total
- 21 min
- Prep 6 · Cook 15
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Searing · Deglazing
- Savory
- Quick
- Light
- Stovetop
- Oven
Instructions
-
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. While it heats, cut the chicken breast into 2 cm pieces, cut the broccoli into small 3 cm florets, finely chop the garlic, and zest then juice the lemon.
~6 min
Mise en place before cooking keeps you from burning garlic or overcooking chicken while still prepping.
-
Add the pasta and 1 tsp salt to the boiling water and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes. Add the broccoli florets to the same pot for the final 3 minutes, then drain, reserving 120 ml of the cooking water.
~12 min
Cooking broccoli in the pasta water for the last 3 minutes blanches it so it stays bright and crisp-tender.
-
While step 2 cooks
While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with the remaining salt and the black pepper, then sear in a single layer until golden and cooked through to 74°C, about 5 minutes, turning once.
~5 min
Searing in a single layer over high heat drives off moisture so the chicken browns instead of steaming.
Searing Pat the chicken dry, use medium-high heat, and leave it undisturbed until it releases easily. Crowding the pan steams the meat and prevents browning.
-
Add the garlic to the skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in 100 ml of the reserved cooking water and the lemon juice, scraping up the browned bits, and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
~1 min
Adding liquid to the hot pan deglazes the browned bits, dissolving that fond into the sauce for flavor.
Deglazing Pour the liquid in while the pan is hot and scrape the browned bits up immediately. Waiting lets the fond burn and turn the sauce bitter.
-
Add the drained pasta and broccoli to the skillet and toss over medium heat until the sauce coats everything, about 1 minute, loosening with the last 20 ml cooking water if needed.
~1 min
Tossing off direct high heat lets the starchy water and lemon juice emulsify into a sauce that clings.
-
Take the skillet off the heat, then fold in the parmesan and lemon zest. Taste and adjust the salt, then serve right away.
~1 min
Residual pan heat melts the parmesan smoothly; boiling would break the sauce and make it grainy.
Add the lemon zest and juice only after the pan is off the heat: cooking them dulls the bright citrus note you are after.
Grate the parmesan finely and stir it in off the heat so it melts into the sauce instead of clumping.