Chicken Something

Imagine if you will....a typical night in my head....

'Ooooh....another drive home....40 minutes of looking at car butts. Hmmm....nothing good on the radio...typical. Whats up with that? Even the songs from my generation are the sucky ones. My Sharona was only cool once...the very first time I heard it. Lets dig through the cds. Oh wait, those all belong to the girls. ooook.....speed dial mom and dads phone (damn, why is everyone going 10 mph below the speed limit?!! Gaaaawwwd, I missed the light aaaaagain! Lets move it ^%#$@). Well, mom and dad must be asleep, no ones answering. At what age does 8pm become your bedtime.... again? Speed dial baby sister.....hopefully her kids are already in bed (because we know it's bedtime for little kids and old people. When did my parents get old?) so she can keep me company while I drive home..."hellooooooooo" 

(fast forward....40 minutes later I'm pulling up to the house)

'What am I going to do with chicken....again! I'm running out of ideas. I don't have the time or energy for the old standbys. And seriously, how many times in a lifetime can someone make Chicken A La King?! Ok...lets dig through the fridge and the freezer....hmmmm....pancetta. Ya, lets do something with that. Yes yes...always onions. Hmm, parmesan cheese, check. Pine nuts...check....pasta, white wine, cream...check, check, check. Aaaah...and a lemon. And garlic. Lets see how this works.'

And thats about how it went the night I threw this one together. Yes, it had been a long day at work...a long ride home and I had no idea what I was going to do with my defrosted chicken. Hey, at least I remembered to defrost it, right?

2 cups cooked bow-tie pasta, water reserved
5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
4 oz diced pancetta
1 medium white onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup pasta water served from cooked pasta
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup cream
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Zest from one lemon
Parsley to garnish

Season the chicken in olive oil with some salt and pepper, until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside, keeping warm.

Saute the pancetta and sliced onions until onions are beginning to caramelize. Add the garlic and saute for another minute

Deglaze the pan with the wine.

Add the pasta water and allow to reduce slightly.

Stir in the parmesan cheese and cream, stirring until the cheese has melted

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add your chicken, pine nuts and lemon zest and heat through

Serve over pasta and garnish with a little parsley

And there you have a meal that probably took 30 minutes or less (I didn't even consider timing it)...and wasn't too bad. I think the pine nuts weren't necessary. Maybe some mushrooms or asparagus added in would've been good too. I should've had a salad on the side. I wish I could say I did and make you think I'm all "health conscious" and stuff....but I'm not. And I probably didn't even consider a salad. Or even frozen veggies.

But hey, you can't expect perfection when I just walk in the door after being gone for 10 1/2 hours.

Printable Version: Chicken Something

*****Reminder*****

I'm still having the Le Creuset Giveaway. It's going on until Monday, March 22nd. For details go here: Pomegranate Sorbet and Le Creuset Giveaway