A simple pasta dish but loaded with flavor! This Chicken Broccoli Pasta is easy to make and perfect for a family style dinner, cooked in a white wine sauce and tossed with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
If my kids could name their favorite food, pasta would be in the top three. The boy adores any pasta with meatballs in a thick red sauce and my daughter will cover hers in Parmesan, even though she professes to hate cheese.
Gasp! Who in the world hates cheese? Most chicken broccoli pasta I've seen is usually dowsed in melted cheese and alfredo sauce, almost to the point it's cheese-porn.
This recipe is lighter and packed with crunchy broccoli. The flavor comes from the chicken that's been simmered in a white wine and garlic bath.
This isn't my recipe, I wish it had been! It's actually from a good friend and fellow blogger who you probably know already. Liz from The Lemon Bowl is going back to her roots and making stellar recipes.
She married into an Italian family and we all know how much passion they have for their food. Liz has gathered her favorite family-style recipes from her husband's side and put them together in an Ebook, Food From Our Ancestors, The Ultimate Italian Sunday Dinner just for you.
With 12 recipes to choose from I had a hard time trying to decide on which one to make. I'm really glad I went with this Chicken Broccoli Pasta with mozzarella and Parmesan though.
Making the pasta for your chicken and broccoli
Usually, when I make pasta I make too much, right don't we all? But I watched everyone grab seconds and boom! It was gone. The chicken is simmered in white wine and chicken stock eventually ending up as a thin sauce that gently melts the mozzarella as you toss them together.
I can't explain how tasty this was, so chicken broccoli pasta needs to be on your shopping list asap!
What kind of pasta should I use?
I used penne but any tubular pasta would work and because there isn't any sauce, you don't need a spaghetti style pasta to old all of the sauce. Penne is light and doesn't fill you up too much.
Can I substitute broccoli for something else?
You could but broccoli is so tasty and really makes this dish pop. If you really don't like it, try using green beans, brussels sprouts or cauliflower.
Liz kindly provided a copy of Food From Our Ancestors, The Ultimate Italian Sunday Dinner for me to review. You can purchase a copy here.