Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Penne Pasta
Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Penne Pasta
Ingredients:
- 7 oz Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Breast
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ tsp Red Pepper Flake
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 cups Organic Red Lentil Penne Pasta (112 grams)
- 1 head Broccoli (165 grams)
- ½ cup Water
- ½ tsp Reduced Sodium Chicken Base
- 3 tsp All-Purpose Flour
- ½ cup Pasta water
- 2 cloves Fresh Garlic
- 4 Campari Tomatoes quartered, (340 grams)
- 2 oz Mozzarella Shredded Cheese made from 2% milk
- 1 dash Sea Salt
Instructions:
- Heat a stove top pan to medium heat, while the pan is heating season the chicken breast on both sides. You can use any seasonings you like. My favorite go to combination is: black pepper, red pepper, and garlic powder.
- Once the pan is hot, add the extra virgin olive oil to the pan. Place the chicken immediately in the pan. Leave it there on medium heat for 2 minutes, then flip to the other side and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Both sides should start to become golden brown, but the center will still look uncooked…If not, give each side another minute…your pan wasn't hot enough.
- Then turn the heat to low and cover the chicken with a lid. Let it cook for about 7 minutes, then flip and cover again for another 7 minutes on the other side. After 7 minutes on each side covered, the chicken should be done. But this does depend on the size of the chicken breast…these times are based on a 7 oz breast. My rule of thumb is, once covered, cook the chicken for 1 minute per ounce per side, I find that this delivers a perfect juicy chicken breast every time. It is always best to check the internal temperature of chicken before serving.
- While the chicken is cooking bring a pot of water to a bowl and cook the red lentil pasta following the directions on the package.
- Once the pasta is done, remove from heat, drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water in a separate dish.
- In another pot while the chicken is cooking: Heat a medium sauce pan with about 1 inch of water at the bottom, bring the water to a boil. Put the broccoli into of the in the pot an allow to steam covered with a lid on for 8 minutes.
- Once done drain the water. Toss the broccoli with a little black pepper. The broccoli should still have a little crisp to it. Once the chicken is done remove the chicken from the pan, saving the juice in the pan, and dice the chicken into bite size pieces.
- Now it is time to use all that juice from the chicken to make a sauce. Turn up the heat on the remaining chicken juice to medium, add the flour and stir until it becomes a paste.
- Then add the 1/2 cup reserved pasta water, better than bouillon chicken base, and diced garlic. Stir this around for a few minutes until it begins to boil.
- Once boiling add the cooked pasta, broccoli, tomatoes, and diced chicken. Cook stirring for 2 minute.
- Finally, add the shredded cheese and season with a dash of salt, several cracks of pepper, and a sprinkle of red peeper flake. Cook stirring for another minute, then serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Have you tried red lentil pasta yet? If not include this cheesy chicken and broccoli penne pasta into your meal plan this week. I can promise you won’t miss regular pasta at all! If you are meal prepping or counting macros check out my notes below on how you can make adjustments to this recipe.
Macro Adjustments:
Below outlines the Items In each macro group that are easily adjustable to meet your specific macros.
Fat:
The fat In this recipe comes from several different Ingredients, the one that Is easily adjustable Is the olive oil
Carbohydrates:
The majority of the carbs In this recipe comes from the pasta. However, this red lentil pasta also contains a decent about of protein, therefore you will want to keep that In mind when making adjustments.
Protein:
Chicken Is a great lean cut of meat, providing most of the protein In this recipe. You could adjust the amount of chicken used to adjust the protein macro.
Meal Prep:
Yes this recipe Is meal prep-able, and will last up to 6 days In the fridge.
Freezer Friendly:
This pasta does tend to dry out once It Is frozen therefore I would not recommend freezing this recipe.