Lemon Chicken Picollini

Oh....picollini! What a cute word! Right?  $20 to anyone who knows what it is!! Any guesses??

Okay, so it's pasta...just a smaller version of Farfalle. Okay, so it's tiny bow-tie pasta, enough with the fancy words. This weekend was killer for me...and I mean that in a bad way.  Lots of working at night and then getting back up at 5am to work some more.   Let's just say I didn't spend my weekend planning my weekly menu or anything, okay?  Anyway, today was a busy Monday (most are) so I had to throw something together.  And what I came up with, is pretty darn good!  Although Mia wouldn't take a bite of it.  Nope, not one bite.

The inspiration for this meal?  I had to use the 5 day old fresh broccoli crown in my fridge before it went bad.  Here's the end result (sorry for the crappy Blackberry pic)...

Lemon Chicken Picollini:

• Boil water, add some salt and bowl some picollini pasta until al dente.  Drain and set aside.
•  In a separate skillet, heat some olive oil and 1 heaping tablespoon of garlic until fragrant, add 2 cut up chicken breasts and cook until 1/2 cooked.
• Add one whole broccoli crown, cut into bite-size pieces and 1/2 container of mushrooms.  Put lid on the skillet to "steam" the broccoli until mushrooms are soft and broccoli is fork tender.
• Move broccoli,  chicken and mushrooms to a separate bowl and set aside.  
• Add 2 tbsp. of REAL unsalted butter to the warm skillet and melt.  Add 1/2 small container of heavy whipping cream and stir until simmering.  
• Zest 2 lemons and add zest to cream mixture.  Squeeze the juice from one lemon into the cream mixture and add salt and pepper.  Cut the remaining lemon into slices.
• Cook lemon and cream mixture for about 2 minutes.  Add chicken, broccoli and mushrooms to cream mixture and stir.  Add cooked picollini and stir. 
• Chop some fresh basil and add to pasta mixture, top with fresh lemon slices and......SERVE!!

Although Mia turned her nose, I loved it. JC loved it.  But it could have used more salt.  When you are using real cream...the rule is....YOU CAN NEVER USE ENOUGH SALT!