These are two recipes you are not going to want to skip over. A bonus with these recipes is that you actually have three meals in two recipes! You can make the lemon spaghetti on it’s own as well as the chicken with basil dressing or you can combine them for what I think is a fantastic dish! A good friend of mine shared these recipe’s with me as she routinely does with recipes she knows I would love and she was right on when she shared these because they are delicious!

The recipes are courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis. It seems whenever I try one of Giada’s recipes I discover a new favorite and these two were no exception. While I realize that there are two recipes here and it may be a little longer than my typical recipe post they are worth it and you can have three different meals out of two recipes if you want.

Let’s start with the Lemon Spaghetti and then I will share the Chicken with Basil Dressing.

Lemon Spaghetti

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of spaghetti ( we used quinoa spaghetti noodles)
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, about 3 lemons if using fresh
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (you can use fresh or the spice- we used the spice)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions:

Cool the pasta in a large pot of boiling water according to package. Whisk oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid in case needed. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce and the reserved liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.

This is terrific alone or add the next chicken with basil dressing for a bonus dish!

 

Chicken with Basil Dressing (we made a few changes to the original recipe)

There are a few options on cooking the chicken. You can grill is or saute it on the stove. We chose to saute it on the stove. Directions on both are included and you can decide which will work best for you.

• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, (plus 1 tablespoon if sauteing chicken)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus 1/4 cup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 package of chicken breast 
• 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Directions:

Whisk 1/3 cup of oil, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, fennel seeds, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper in a resealable plastic bag, like a Ziploc bag. Add the chicken and massage the marinade into the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes up to 1 day, occasionally turning.

Meanwhile, blend the basil, garlic, lemon peel, remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and blend in blender or food processor until smooth. Gradually add the remaining 1/3 cup oil. Add salt and pepper to taste to the basil sauce.

There are a couple of options on how you can cook the chicken.

• Grill it. If you choose to grill the chicken, remove the chicken from the marinade and grill,  until it is cooked through about 8 minutes on each side.
• Saute it. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Heat a pan on the stove and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 – 2 tablespoons of the marinade and then add the chicken. Saute until chicken is fully cooked, approximately 10 – 15 minutes.

 

Both Recipes Combined Made for a Delicious Meal!

You can add the chicken cut up to the spaghetti or you can add the grilled chicken to the top of the spaghetti or to the side but when you combine these two recipes they are terrific! We mixed it all together as you can see in the picture below and enjoyed every bite of it!