Crunchy Chicken with Lemon Pasta.
Crispy, golden chicken cutlets over a bright, buttery lemon pasta. The kind of dinner my husband requests at least twice a month.
This is the dinner that earned me "you should open a restaurant" comments from my kids. It's not complicated, pounded chicken, classic breading, fried in olive oil until shatter-crispy, served over pasta tossed in butter, lemon, garlic, and parmesan.
I use Pasture Bird chicken I get at Sprouts. The quality is night-and-day from grocery store chicken, and you can taste it in every bite of these cutlets.
The breading trick: mix parmesan into the breadcrumbs. It adds salt, flavor, and that next-level golden crunch. Don't skip it.
What you'll need.
- Chicken:
- 2pasture-raised chicken breasts (I use Pasture Bird from Sprouts)
- ½ cupall-purpose flour
- 2pasture-raised eggs, beaten
- 1 cuppanko or sourdough breadcrumbs
- ½ cupgrated parmesan
- 1 tspgarlic powder
- 1 tspsea salt
- ½ tspblack pepper
- ¼ cupolive oil or avocado oil, for frying
- Lemon pasta:
- 12 ozTrader Joe's Lemon Noodles (seasonal, also at Costco) or spaghetti/linguine
- 4 tbspgrass-fed butter
- 3 clovesgarlic, minced
- 2lemons (zest of both, juice of one)
- ½ cupgrated parmesan, plus more for serving
- ¼ cupreserved pasta water
- Handfulfresh parsley, chopped
— InstructionsHow it comes together.
- 01Pound the chicken. Cut breasts in half horizontally to make 4 thin cutlets. Place between two sheets of parchment and pound to about ½ inch thick. Pat dry and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- 02Set up your breading station. Three shallow bowls: (1) flour, (2) beaten eggs, (3) panko mixed with parmesan, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- 03Bread the cutlets. Dredge each cutlet in flour (shake off excess), dip in egg, then press firmly into the panko mixture to coat both sides. Set aside on a plate.
- 04Boil pasta. Get a big pot of well-salted water boiling. Add pasta and cook to al dente per package directions. Reserve ½ cup pasta water before draining.
- 05Fry the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Fry cutlets 3-4 minutes per side until deep golden and cooked through. Transfer to a rack to keep crispy.
- 06Build the lemon sauce. In the (wiped-out) pasta pot over medium-low, melt butter. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Stir in lemon zest and juice. Add the drained pasta, parmesan, and a splash of reserved pasta water. Toss until silky.
- 07Plate it. Twirl pasta into bowls. Slice cutlets and lay over the top. Shower with more parmesan, parsley, and a final hit of lemon zest.
Aneesa's tip
Rest your breaded cutlets on a rack (not a plate) after frying so the bottom stays crispy. And don't crowd the pan, fry in two batches if you have to. Crowded chicken steams instead of crisps, and the whole point of this recipe is the crunch.
Bon appétit, xx Aneesa
