creamychickenpiccatapastaaaaaaa

I have had a long, long, long love affair with capers and any recipe that includes them is on my to-try-yesterday-girlfrienddd list (which is a serious list to be on, fyi). chicken piccata is perfection in my book and I came across a recipe that layered the picatta with pasta and cream. I mean, all it needs is bacon (I left that out but reading Col's bacon posts make me think that it would be a great idea for next time). it also is a recipe in which to use your lemon reamer. I mean, c'mon.

for da chicken:

juice of one lemon

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp basil or oregano

salt n' peppa, to taste

2 chicken breasts

for da pasta:

2 c. dried penne

2 tbsp butter

juice of 2 lemons

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 c. half and half or heavy cream, your choice! tough decision, I know.

2 tsp dried basil

2 tbsp capers (I used about a half a jar. 2 tbsp... clearly not enough.)

1/2 c. grated parm cheezzzee

combine the first "for da chicken" ingredients to form a marinade - marinade the chicken overnight, or maybe just for a few hours if you forgot to do that overnight step (which I did. it's okay. we're only human).

grill chicken until done and slice into strips to serve over pasta.

while the chicken is grilling, cook the pasta! drain it out of the pan when done to your liking. reserve a half a cup of the pasta water to use to loosen up the sauce you are about to make, if necessary. in the pan, melt the butter, add the garlic, and add the lemon juice. pour in the half and half slowly and whisk it until it's all hot and smelling good. add the salt and pepper if you want, then add the cheese, basil and capers and heat it all up until everything is melted and nice and saucy. add the pasta and the sliced chicken. bonus points if you add bacon!