Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken

I saw this recipe on Melanie from My Kitchen Cafe's blog a while back and had been excited to try it. I finally got around to making it this past week. It was delicious. I had wondered if the cream added to the sauce may make it heavy but it was just the opposite. As Melanie said about this dish on her blog - "Creamy and light." I'll definitely be making this dish again.

Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken
adapted from allrecipes.com via Clouse Cousins Cookin'

Serves 4-6

3 cups shredded or cubed Lemon Garlic Chicken (recipe follows)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 (16 ounce) package tube pasta (I used shells because it is what I had)
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, season the chicken broth with the garlic powder and pepper. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.

Stir chicken into cooked pasta, along with the cream, parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir thoroughly before serving.

Lemon Garlic Chicken
Erin W.

Juice of 1 lemon, approximately 3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic, about 2 medium cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound chicken breasts (I usually cut really thick chicken breasts down to thin them out and make the pieces a little smaller so they absorb the marinade better)

Combine all marinade ingredients. Place chicken in a ziploc bag or tuppaware container and pour marinade over chicken. Place in fridge overnight. Grill (or cook in frying pan). Serve with sides of your choice or cut into bite sized pieces and add to desired recipe (I'll be sharing a few with you soon). Note: If you cut your chicken into smaller, bite-sized pieces and then marinate it, you can get away with only letting it marinate for 5 or 6 hours instead of overnight.