Pasta with Chicken, Broccoli, and Oil

Difficulty Rating:

This one is totally my bad - I actually made this last month at my awesome friend Peter's house, and had such a great time there that I forgot I took all these pics for the blog. Good food and good company, man, this is what it does to you. Luckily I made a pecan pie and took a pic of it to put up here, and when I plugged my camera in I re-discovered all of these!

I must say, I've been lax in my blogging lately, but now that finals are almost over I should get back into the swing of things! So here, my lovelies, is a super-easy and surprisingly healthy dish for you all to enjoy!

Recipe

1 lb pasta shells, cooked
About 4 bunches of fresh broccoli florettes
1-2 cups extra virgin olive oil
3 tbls chopped garlic
About 1/2 lb chicken breast, cooked and cubed
Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper

Add garlic and a few tablespoons oil to a skillet on medium heat and cook 2-3 minutes. Add broccoli florettes and cook until broccoli turns bright green. Add chicken and spice with salt & pepper, and cook until chicken is hot all the way through.

Add enough oil to fill pan about halfway up to the top of the broccoli, usually between 1-2 cups. Simmer on medium heat until broccoli is cooked to preferred consistency. Serve over pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Execution

This is by far one of my favorite dishes. I could literally eat this every night for a week.

Ingredients

Peter's kitchen is soooo much nicer than mine. Look at those countertops! Mine are that fakey-marble blue. Yuck.

Now you're more than welcome to cook and chop your own chicken, we were just looking for something quick so we got the Deli-Fresh kind. You can also make this without meat at all; this was actually the first time in almost ten years of making this dish that I put chicken in it, but I was super-hungry and wanted meat.

As for the "broccoli florettes," all this means is you're only using the top part of the broccoli. Cut off all the stems, and then just chop the top of the broccoli up into smaller pieces so they're bite-sized. You'll get little green things everywhere, but it's worth it.

You can also use fresh garlic which I usually do, but again, I was going for quick and delicious so I used jarred. Dump in a couple spoonfuls of garlic and a bit of oil to cook it in.

DO NOT let the garlic burn! This is very important, because the garlic is in this for the long haul. Just stir it around for a minute until everything smells like garlic, then dump in your broccoli. Stir it around so it soaks up some of the oil, and let it cook a little. If it gets too dry, throw a little more oil on there. Your goal isn't to drown it or pan-fry it here, just to keep it sort of moist with the oil.

Once it starts turning bright green (is there anything prettier than cooked broccoli?), throw in the chicken.

You'll want to cook this another few minutes so the chicken absorbs some of the garlicy flavor and mingles with the broccoli. You should also add salt and pepper to taste.

Mmm! Now, if you're watching your figure you can just throw this on some pasta and go, but trust me when I say it'll be dry. So suck it up, remember that olive oil is good for your heart, and pour a bunch more in. I usually add it until it's about halfway to covering the broccoli concoction, as shown below.

I know it looks like a lot of oil at first glance, but remember that you're throwing this over an entire pound of pasta, so don't be shy! Let this simmer for a few minutes - the oil should turn a bit cloudy from all the other ingredients - until the broccoli is the consistency you prefer.

Then you just put some pasta in a bowl and spoon the broccoli concoction over it. I like shells the best, because there's all kinds of little niches that the oil can get stuck in and make it extra delicious.

Note #1: See what I meant about getting little green thingees everywhere?

Note #2: I am so jealous of Peter's dishes. Oh man.

Now, at this point you sprinkle some parmesan cheese over it and chow down. I like a lot of cheese, practically negating any healthy benefits of eating this meal, but how much you add is entirely dependent on your own love of cheese.

Once you've had your fill, throw the rest of the pasta into a tupperware container, pour the remaining oil from the pan over it, and eat it later with some more cheese. Mmmm, cheese.

Thanks again to Peter for helping me make this excellent meal!