Crispy Skillet Chicken with Bruschetta Pasta

I will be undergoing a blog redesign throughout the rest of this week and weekend. Read more about how this might affect you here. 

A couple of weeks ago MyHandsomeHusband and I went grocery shopping together late, oh so very late at night.  Because grocery shopping very late at night with your special person is really romantic, in case you weren’t aware.  It had been a crazy chaotic week. The end of the school year could kill a person, am I right?  Big projects, events, activities…all lined up, back to back sure  to overwhelm students and parents alike. Anyhow I hadn’t been able to find two extra minutes to rub together and get myself to the grocery store and adequately stock my shelves. I was eager to shop at a store (Winco) that is about 25 minutes away from home. They have this awesome Bulk Food section where I buy all of my spices and seasonings for dirt cheap. I like dirt cheap. Dirt cheap spices go a long way in this wild house, I can tell you that. And further more, I was out of Chicken Bullion and only had 1 cup of sugar to my name which can cause a nutty food blogging person such as myself to pace the floor, fret and worry and wonder if the sun will come up in the morning.   Have I mentioned recently that I am sort of nuts. I am.

PS…they sell awesome nuts in bulk at Winco, too.

PPS…this is not a Winco commercial.

And so, my man…the handsome one I told you about a few sentences ago?  He said he’d drive me to the store and wander around with me and such.

You thought I was kidding about the romantic part.

I wasn’t.

He pushed my cart and put treats in it when I wasn’t looking, and some when I was.  He filled up little bags of  nutmeg, ginger and jamaican jerk (can’t wait to try out the jamaican jerk…anyone ever tried it?).  He loaded bags big bags of sugar into the back of my fire-red suburban and held my hand on the way home.

Late night grocery shopping with your sweetheart?

I highly recommend it.

Ok, dinner and a movie are good too.

I found this big bunch of basil in the produce section at Winco. Isn’t it lovely? The smell of fresh basil is so divine, I think the streets of heaven might be lined with it. Truly, I do. I haven’t ever been successful at growing it in my garden so I am happy to know that you can buy it in big bunches at Winco. Maybe I will find myself there on a date night again sometime soon.

I used the basil to make this amazing Crispy Skillet Chicken with Bruschetta Pasta. The chicken is lightly coated in Italian Bread Crumbs and then cooked to a crispy perfection in a hot skillet. Fresh Tomatoes, basil, garlic and balsamic vinegar are sautéed and then tossed with pasta, more fresh basil, a dash of lemon and Parmesan cheese. Oh baby, it is darn good. It’s very fresh tasting and light and would make a wonderful spring/summer meal.

Find yourself some basil and let me show you how to make it.

Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6-7 servings
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

CRISPY SKILLET CHICKEN:

4 chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
1 C Italian bread crumbs
1/4 t salt
3 T olive oil

BRUSCHETTA PASTA:

1/2 (16 ounce) box bowtie pasta
2 pints grape tomatoes
1 t balsamic vinegar
5 T fresh basil, chopped and divided
1 T fresh garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1 t fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 C Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Pour 1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a loaf pan and toss it all together with a fork to combine.

2. Cut your chicken breasts into three equal sized strips and place them in a freezer safe gallon ziploc bag. Take a meat tenderizer (or the rim of an aluminum can will work as well) and pound the chicken out flat.

3. Dredge the chicken in the Italian Bread Crumbs and then set each one aside on a plate.

4. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to the pan and allow it to get nice and hot. Carefully place the chicken pieces into the hot oil. I could only fit half of the chicken in my pan, and thus cooked the chicken in two batches.

When  they are golden brown along the bottoms turn each piece over and allow it to cook on the other side. You may have to add just a bit more oil if the pan starts to get too dry.

5. Boil some water and cook your bowtie pasta according to package directions. I cooked the whole package, but only used about half of it for the Bruschetta Pasta. Some of my kids prefer to eat it plain with butter and salt (lame, don’t-know-what-they-are-missing kind of nerds, aren’t they). When your pasta has cooked through, dump it into a strainer you have set in your sink.

6. While the pasta and chicken cook pour 2 pints of grape tomatoes into a large mixing bowl.

7. Chop 5-6  tablespoons of fresh basil. Set 3-4 tablespoons of the basil aside to add at the end. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of basil and 1 tablespoon of fresh garlic to the tomatoes.

8. Add 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar to the bowl. Hit it with a bit of salt and pepper and stir it all up to combine.

9. Heat another large skillet up over medium high heat. (If you only have one skillet, and have used it to cook the chicken be sure that you wash it before you cook the bruschetta. The chicken drippings will end up getting a bit burned if you leave them in the pan.)
10. Add 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil to the pan. Allow the oil to get hot and then add the bruschetta mixture. Let the tomatoes get nice and puffy and the garlic to cook through. Should only take about 5 minutes. Carefully press a spatula over the top of the tomatoes allowing some of the juice to flow from each one.

10. Pour the pasta (I only used half of the box) into the cooked bruschetta.

12. Add about 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice,

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and the rest of the fresh basil. Give everything a nice stir. Taste it and add more salt, pepper or basil to your liking.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

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