Chicken and Artichokes over Angel Hair

I love artichokes! I'm always looking for ways to put them in dishes. This is a pretty easy recipe that makes a restaurant worthy dish!

In it, I use crushed rosemary. If you don't have crushed rosemary, you can sub in what you have. I just don't like dried rosemary much because it doesn't soften well.


1 box angel hair pasta
1 medium onion thinly diced.
1 can large artichokes in water
3-4 chicken breasts sliced into 1/2" wide x 1-2" long strips
1-2 lemons
olive oil
butter
rosemary powder
cayenne
salt
pepper

1. Juice 1/2 lemon in a bowl. Add in salt, pepper and 2 healthy pinches of rosemary powder. Combine with whisk while slowly adding in olive oil. (Use whole lemon if you didn't get much juice.) Make at least 1/2 a cup (just eyeball it).
2. Add cut up chicken to the marinade. Make sure the chicken is well coated and set aside. Since the lemon juice will start to "cook" them meat, I recommend not leaving it in the marinade longer than 24 hours.
   
3. Heat up some olive oil and butter in a pan. Use just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Make sure the heat is not too high or the butter will burn.
   
4. Cook the chicken in the pan in batches. Place in a separate bowl when complete.
5. Cook pasta per package instructions.
   
6. Add onion to pan with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook until translucent.
7. While the onion is cooking, drain and cut artichokes into quarters.
8. Once the onions are done, place them in a bowl with the chicken.
9. Add a pat of butter and artichokes to the pan.
   
10. Cook these for 3-5 minutes.
11. Once the artichokes are complete, turn the burner to low and add 2-3 pats of butter, a splash of olive oil and lemon juice from 1/2 of lemon. Add in a pinch or two of cayenne. Taste the sauce to make sure it's well seasoned. Once a loose sauce is formed, add chicken and onions back to the pan. Turn off burner.
12. Drain pasta and place in serving bowl.
13. Drizzle pasta with olive oil (prevents pasta from sticking together and adds flavor).
14. Add salt, pepper and 2-3 pinches of rosemary powder. Stir pasta until it's well coated.
15. Pour the chicken and artichoke mixture over the pasta and serve!

I like using the large artichokes because they stand up well to cooking. And, fresh artichokes are expensive. On Sunday, I prepped the chicken and left in the fridge while I was at church. If you are industrious, you can chop the onions and drain/quarter the artichokes in advance. For additional flair, add some shredded Parmesan to the top right before you serve.

Also, the lemon juice in this should provide background flavor. However, some lemons are more giving than other and you many need to use 2 for this recipe. The same goes for the cayenne. It's a background flavor. Be careful to not add too much.