Who doesn’t love pistachios? Honestly, I have a hard time not eating them all them while I make this. I should probably just get a bigger bag next time… And Lemons! So light and refreshing for summer.

The first two times I made this, it was like the best thing I’ve ever eaten. This time, it fell a little short, but I think I know why, so I’m sharing it anyway and I’ll steer everyone else in the right direction!

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts- cut in half lengthwise
1 cup pistachios- crushed
1 lemon- you’ll need the zest and the juice
4 Tbsp Butter
Parmesan- one tub of fresh cheese
8 oz angel hair spaghetti- this is where I went wrong. I thought I’d make it healthier with the chickpea pasta- don’t do this. Just stick with standard angel hair.
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt, pepper and onion powder
Olive oil

Instructions:

Season the chicken on both sides with salt, pepper and onion powder.
Heat oil in pan and add chicken. Zest lemon on top. Cook for about 4 minutes. Turn the chicken and zest the lemon again. Sprinkle with crushed pistachios. Continue cooking until chicken is cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking, cook pasta according to the package.
Once chicken is heated through, remove from the pan.
In the same pan, add butter and melt. Add pistachios and zest the rest of the lemon- here is another area I went wrong. I thought I’d try it with whole peels. The zest was better. The pistachios will become soft about the same time as the pasta is finished.
Drain the pasta, but do not rinse.
Toss pasta in lemon and pistachio butter. Add parmesan- reserving some for topping.
Drizzle cream over the pasta.
Add 3 tbsp lemon juice and salt to taste. Stir everything together, letting the parmesan soften.
Plate pasta with chicken on top. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan.