When we made Mexican Stuffed Peppers last week, Kara bought a bag of these cute mini bell peppers from Marianos. We stuffed a couple of the mini peppers same as our normal sized Mexican Stuffed Peppers, but decided to save the rest and make something fun with them later. We came up with a simple angel hair pasta where the bell peppers and prosciutto wrapped chicken are the stars of the show. We ended up serving this pasta for my Mom’s birthday dinner this past weekend and we all really liked it.
The sauce is basically the same as the sauce we make for our Linguine with Broccoli. There is just something about a lemon-garlic-wine sauce that I love. It pairs great with vegetables and it’s a refreshing change from a normal red sauce.
This is a great dinner to serve for guests because it looks fancy but it’s really easy to prepare. We had orange, red and yellow mini bell peppers and the colors really popped against the angel hair pasta. Because the sauce adds no color it is important to get color from somewhere else! The pop of green from the parsley was a perfect finishing touch.
Note: When you’re making the sauce, taste test it as you go along and add more lemon juice, heavy cream or wine to suit your taste buds. Also, DO NOT forget to reserve a cup of pasta water. It is important to add the pasta water at the end to keep it all moist! We reserved about a half cup before draining the noodles and ended up wishing we had reserved more.
Here's what you'll need
Start by pounding the chicken breasts thin
Wrap the chicken in prosciutto
Start browning the chicken
In a large Ziploc bag, add the sliced peppers along with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Shake the bag
Lay the peppers on a baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes
In a large skillet heat 3 Tbsps olive oil & saute garlic just until fragrant. Pour in a cup of wine. Then add the juice of 2 lemons
Pour a half cup heavy cream last and whisk together. Remove from heat
Add cooked pasta to the skillet. Make sure you reserve at least 1 cup pasta water. You'll need it to keep this pasta moist
Add the zest of 1 lemon on top then toss everything together
Add the roasted peppers next
Serve with the prosciutto wrapped chicken on top
Ingredients
1 pound angel hair pasta
2 cups bell peppers, cut in ½ inch strips
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 slices prosciutto
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup white wine (we used Cupcake brand sauvignon blanc)
juice of 2-3 lemons
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup reserved pasta water
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pound the chicken to about ½ inch thickness and wrap the chicken breasts with the slices of prosciutto. Brown the chicken in a cast iron skillet for about 1 minute per side, then pop into the oven to finish cooking for about 20 minutes.
Cut the bell peppers into strips, about ½ inch thick each. Put the peppers into a large Ziploc bag and pour in 2 tablespoons of oil. Securely close the bag then shake until all the peppers are well coated. Spread the peppers in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes in the preheated oven.
While the chicken and peppers are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously and cook the pasta according to box directions. Before you drain the pasta, reserve at least 1 cup of pasta water and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add the minced garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Pour in the wine and continue cooking for another minute or so. Add the juice of 2-3 lemons. Add the heavy cream last and whisk together. Remove skillet from the heat and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and top with the zest of one lemon. Toss together then add the peppers. Add the pasta water as needed before topping with the chicken. Serve with Italian parsley and parmesan cheese, if desired.
Source: A Live Love Pasta original
