Springtime calls for a classic fresh clean taste, nothing says fresh and clean more than my recipe for Simple Lemon Basil Pasta with Chicken utilizing fresh lemons off our tree, fresh garden grown basil, extra virgin olive oil, freshly grated Romano cheese and perfectly seasoned and grilled chicken over linguine noodles. It’s so easy to make and delicious you’re going to love it.

Here in Florida, springtime is a whole new ball game.It’s already hitting close to 86 degrees on an average day. Being able to eat light meals like my Simple Lemon Basil Pasta with Chicken are almost a necessity at my humble home with the heat already starting to rise. Can you believe my central air is already running?

It’s a beautiful warm sunny day and perfect for being in the garden to tend to a few of the weeds before I pluck my gorgeous basil plant of its lovely tender green leaves and then hit up my lemon tree for fresh lemons for my recipe I will be sharing with Tara’s readers today.

I love this recipe for a few reasons it’s fast, simple, and all the ingredients are fairly simple to find in any local market if you do not already have them on hand. Cooking shouldn’t be an all day affair as I always say, “Less is sometimes more.”

Simple Lemon Basil Pasta with Chicken

• 2 -6- ounce grilled chicken breasts, sliced into strips
• 1 pound of Linguine
• 2/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup of grated Romano Cheese
• 2 Fresh Lemons zested and juiced
• 2 sliced lemons
• Kosher salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 of a cup of chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Season the 6-ounce chicken breasts with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, place on a lightly oiled grill pan that has been preheating on medium-high heat. Grill 6-7 minutes on each side or until chicken is no longer pink or running juices. Place on a plate to cool, once cool slice into strips.
2. Zest and juice both the fresh lemons place in separate small bowls and reserve.
3. Whisk the extra virgin olive oil, Romano cheese, lemon juice from above, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper in a large glass bowl to blend- reserve till needed
4. Meanwhile, bring to a boil a large pasta pot of salted water. Add the linguine noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente- firm to the bite, about 8 minutes
5. Using a metal colander drain linguine noodles, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking liquid
6. Add the linguine noodles to the lemon sauce, and toss with the 1/2 of a cup of chopped basil and the reserved lemon zest from above.
7. Gently toss the pasta with enough reserved cooking liquid, 1/4  of a cup at a time, to moisten pasta.
8. Season the linguine with more salt and pepper to taste
9. Place in pasta bowls, arrange the grilled chicken strips on top of pasta.Garnish with sliced lemons and serve with extra Romano cheese and basil, if desired.

This recipe was originally written for my friend Tara the author of Noshing with the Nolands Blog while she was on vacation. Drop by her blog and see what she been up to for more fabulous recipes.

© Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch, 2017- 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner are strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.