Tags: Healthy Kids Little Foodies Pasta People Quick Recipes Weekday Meals
I can look back on my childhood and list on one hand my mom’s favorite dishes to cook. She was always experimenting with new recipes—still does. But her favorites were easy to identify because we had them so often. And rightly so, they are recipes we still request today—tacos (chicken or beef), chicken pot pie, bacon shallot pasta and scalloped potatoes with Boursin cheese. But my all-time favorite “mama-cooked” meal is Chicken Broccoli Pasta.
Chicken Broccoli Pasta is the perfect balance of protein and vegetable and then the whole thing is tossed in browned butter…does it get better than that?! I understand completely why she made it so often because it not only tastes amazing, it’s also incredibly easy to make.
This is one of those no-measure, toss-what-you-have-in-a-pan sort of recipes, so I’ll just give basic instructions and you do your thing to customize it.
The Chicken:
The chicken is the highlight of this dish, but don’t feel like you need to give it special attention. When I have the time, I’ll brown seasoned chicken breasts in a skillet with a little oil and butter then finish it in the oven. But on those days when time just isn’t on my side, I’ll pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and no one’s the wiser.
The Broccoli:
The broccoli is simply steamed—perfectly steamed so that there’s still a bit of crunch. There are few things I hate more than mushy broccoli. Err on the side of caution.
The Pasta:
The chicken and broccoli are tossed in with the cooked pasta of your choice. Mom always did spaghetti, but I have little eaters that haven’t mastered the art of twirling spaghetti with a fork, so I tend to use small-shaped pasta that’s easy for little spoons to pick up.
Now, I know I said the highlight of this dish is the chicken, but that’s only because I’m trying to maintain an image that I’m really health conscious. If I’m honest with you, and with myself, the highlight of this dish is the browned butter. I could eat just about anything if it’s served with browned butter. Most of my entrée choices at restaurants revolve around the words “browned butter”. There have been several occasions while out to dinner where I’ll be reading through the menu and I get to a line that reads “in browned butter” and I stop. There’s no need to read any further, I know exactly what I’m ordering. I don’t even need to know what the browned butter is on top of because I know no matter what it is, it’s going to be delicious!
This is also an area that allows for some adjustment. I don’t make this dish often because I fear my family will tire of it, so when I do, I go with a whole stick of butter. It’s a very Paula Deen move on my part, I know. Just keep in mind that you can use as much or as little as you like. If we’ve had a week of particularly rich meals, I’ll opt to use just a quarter or a half of a stick and add a little extra of reserved, starchy pasta water or chicken broth to keep a good sauce-pasta ratio.
However much butter you choose to use, place it in a thick-bottomed sauce pan on med heat and DON’T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THAT POT! Browning butter is a tricky business. The first half of the process feels like a lifetime, and then all of a sudden it begins to brown and does so in the flash of an eye. Butter can go from browned to burnt in seconds. Keep the heat steady and whisk frequently. The butter will begin to foam and you’ll start to see little golden bits in the bottom of the pan. You’ll know the butter is perfectly browned when it starts to release a wonderful nutty aroma. My mouth is watering just writing this out.
Pour all that wonderful, nutty, golden goodness directly over your chicken, broccoli, and pasta. Toss well. Depending on how much butter you’ve browned, add some of the reserved pasta water until you reach the desired sauce-pasta ratio you like. Add a little freshly grated parmesan cheese and dig in. A wonderfully decadent meal in under an hour. Perfect for those busy weekday evenings. Bon Appetit!
