Ladies and gentlemen: what kitch has for you today is another creation out of guest chef Neil’s kitchen. This started off as a vegetarian dish to which Neil added chicken for protein, but it could certainly swing back to veg in a heartbeat. He pulled off a cream sauce made with no butter and no cream- amazing! And it tastes great. The sauce has a soft heat from the red pepper being simmered into the milk, add to that a zing from the lemon, the sweet crunch of the peas… I could go on and on- just make it.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup flour
- Olive oil
- 1 cup frozen baby peas
- 1/2 cup evaporated skim milk
- 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
- 1 garlic clove, smashed
- 3 cups packed baby spinach (3 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 pound gnocchi
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Directions
- Put on a pot of salted water to boil for the gnocchi
- Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks, season with salt and pepper and dredge in flour
- Heat a large skillet to medium heat and add some olive oil, cook the chicken
- Set cooked chicken aside on a dish
- Simmer peas with evaporated skim milk, red-pepper flakes, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in the skillet, covered, until tender
- Add spinach and cook over medium-low heat, uncovered, stirring, until wilted, then remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice
- Cook the gnocchi according to package directions; reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain gnocchi
- Add gnocchi and chicken to the sauce with the cheese and some of reserved cooking water and stir to coat; thin with additional cooking water if necessary