If you’re like me, you might have taken pasta off the table because you don’t want to eat those carbs or that gluten. What if I told you that there’s a way to eat your pasta guilt free? Did I hear that applause?

Gluten Free Pasta 

The simple recipes are always the best recipes, if you use good ingredients. This is fresh, young asparagus, and only takes a few minutes to cook. I placed it into the hot pasta water once my pasta was finished. I used a gluten free pasta from Barilla. I’m in the middle of testing various gluten free pastas and will give you that report. My husband likes the Barilla best so far, which can be ordered here. 

The old gluten free pastas were simply rice or brown rice and were gummy. I would buy them, cook one bag or box and then leave the remaining rice pasta in the pasta drawer for years. Now some of the brands newer to the market of gluten free are adding in corn, which gives a nice bite to the pasta. By the time I put in the asparagus, the chicken, the butter, the olive oil, the parmigiano reggiano, any lingering taste of corn was nil.

Marcella Hazan

I took inspiration from a recipe from Marcella Hazan’s Essential’s of Classical Italian Cooking adapting her Sauteed Fillets of Chicken with Lemon and Parsley, Siena Style.

This is my all time, life time favorite cookbook.  I wrote a post detailing what I love about her called a Year of Cooking with Marcella Hazan. She wrote this herself, no ghost writers and no untested recipes.  It’s almost 40 years old. It continues to sell every day, although Marcella is no longer with us. She was very old school, giving America authentic Italian recipes and important cooking notes.  It’s all words and there’s not a single glossy picture. If you consider yourself a damn good home cook, this book needs to be in your kitchen.

After her death, her husband published her notes on ingredients, called Ingredienti, Marcella’s Guide to the Market. 

Marcella Hazan talks about Asparagus

She tells us that good asparagus stands up straight, the overlapping leaf part should be taut packed tight. If you’re not eating the asparagus that day, put it upright in a jar with paper towel crunched in and water that reaches an inch over the paper towel. She suggests adding another moistened towel wrapped around the bunch. Make sure you cut the woody stalk part off. It’s too thin to pare away.

Grilled Lemon Chicken also Works Well with this Recipe

A few years ago I made this recipe out of Guilliano Hazan’s Italian Cookbook for grilled lemon chicken breasts.

I’ve made this a few times now and I we really like it. If you’re going reheat it, add in a little more olive oil, as it may dry out.

Spinach Tiger has a lot of Italian food recipes. You can always replace the pasta with gluten free pasta. When I started this blog, the choices for gluten free pasta were not very good. Today, they are greatly improved and I’ll soon be talking about my favorites, so take a minute to subscribe and never miss a recipe.

More Italian Food from Spinach Tiger

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Healthy Asparagus Chicken Pasta Recipe, with Lemon, Gluten Free Option

Sauteed Chicken Breast with Lemon Parsley, Asparagus and Gluten Free Pasta

Course Entree

Cuisine Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound angel hair pasta or spaghetti.I used this gluten free.
• 1 pound of fresh asparagus
• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• juice of one lemon
• 4 tablespoons white wine optional
• 6 tablespoons chopped parsley
• lemon slices for garnish
• Pecorino Romano Cheese or Parmigiano Reggiano for serving.

Instructions

• Cook pasta according to directions. You can use either gluten free or regular pasta.
• While cooking pasta, boil asparagus for about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain set aside. (see notes)
• Heat oil and butter in skillet on medium high. When the oil/butter is hot, add chicken filets and cook for one minute each side. Remove to warming plate, season with salt and pepper. You will be cooking through later.
• Deglaze pan. Important: Have a lid ready to put over pan. Acid hitting the grease can cause an eruption.Add in lemon juice, white wine, lower heat, simmer for a minute while scraping bits of pan.
• Add half of parsley, and remaining butter to pan. Add chicken back in to finish cooking.
• Remove Chicken. Add pasta to the pan and toss.
• Cut asparagus into 3-4 inch slices. Cut chicken crosswise into one inch slices.
• Put pasta in large bowl. Add apsaragus and chicken.
• Sprinkle more parsley.
• Add lemon slices for garnish.
• Serve with a pecorino romano cheese.

Notes

To save pots, I removed the pasta from the pot, leaving the water and cooked the pasta in the pasta water. First, reserve 1 cup pasta water to be used for the sauce.

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