Lemon and Chicken are a fantastic combination at the best of times. So many of us have memories of a Sunday roast chicken with a slice of lemon tucked under the skin to give it a bit of extra flavour. Ruxstons sell a huge range of chicken and also Lemon Tagliatelle, so this recipe has been used fairly often in the past year.
Most people will use Chicken breast for a pasta dish, but, and this is a controversial view, I have always found chicken breast more suitable for eating whole, so I cook the drumsticks and then cut the meat off and mix it in with a white sauce. The meat on the leg of the chicken is often a bit darker and richer in flavour which is perfect for this dish.
The lemon tagliatelle, or if you prefer lemon linguine, has been infused with lemon peel in the preparation process so providing you don’t overcook will naturally have a mild but bitter lemon flavour.
Ingredients for the Chicken Pasta dish:
300g of Chicken Drumsticks
150g Lemon Tagliatelle
10 x Cherry Tomatoes
Dash of Olive Oil
1 Lemon
50g of Shipton Mill Plain Flour
50g Salted Butter
500ml of Whole Milk
Step 1) Cooking the Chicken
Start by cooking the chicken drumsticks. This can be cooked in a variety of ways but the easiest is simply to pop it into a dish, add some tomatoes, and lemon, and splash a little olive oil on to aid the cooking process. Generally, our chicken can take slightly longer to cook, the chickens are older and their muscles are better developed, which means the cooking process takes longer to break them down to the perfect texture. The diet high in vegetation and pasture in general also gives a far richer flavour than commercial chicken.
If you want to be more creative you can add garlic or possibly some hot spices. However, it is worth noting that too many spices or flavours will overpower the lemon pasta flavour.
Step 2) Make a white sauce.
As you want the flavours in the chicken and lemon pasta to come out we make a slightly smaller portion of white sauce than you may imagine. Mix the butter, milk and flour into a pan, and gently heat up whilst whisking it constantly. Add in a little parsley or whichever herbs take you fancy.
Step 3)
After cooking at 180 degrees for 45 minutes check to see if the chicken is ready. Chicken needs to be above 75 degrees, a lot of people will overcook chicken due to fears of food poisoning. Whilst it is a more risky meat to cook than beef, it really is not worth overcooking for, anything over 75 will be perfectly safe. An extra test can be stabbing the chicken with a knife, if the juices run clear then it is safe to eat.
Cut the chicken off the bone and add it into the white sauce.
Step 4) Boil the Pasta
Bring a pan of water to the boil and when fully boiling put the Tagliatelle into the pan. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or Al dente. Always ensure that the pasta is taken out slightly before it is ready because it will keep cooking even when it is taken out of the water.
What is al dente pasta?
Al dente means that the pasta is still firm when cooked. If pasta is overcooked, it will become too soft so the stage before this happens is Al Dente. There should be a little bite to your pasta. As we are cooking Lemon Tagliatelle, we need to be extra careful as if it is over cooked, the flavour of lemon will dramatically weaken. Do not cook for over 7 minutes.
Step 5) Once the pasta is done immediately add the chicken and white sauce on. Grate a cheese of your choice, most people will choose parmesan, but a little mature cheddar is my personal favourite.
At this stage you can plate up and serve. You will have a lovely nutritious meal. Using Chicken drumsticks may take a little longer than if you had used a chicken breast but it will be worth the extra wait due to the lovely flavour you will get from the legs.
