Lemon Chicken with Spinach
Garlicy lemon sauce tossed through spinach and pasta with tender flavorful chicken cutlets.
Lemon Chicken with Spinach
Serves 4 - 5
Lemon chicken was one of my favorite lunches in middle school. Looking back I have no idea why though. It was a soggy, thickly breaded chicken breast in a greasy sauce that honestly tasted like nothing with a hint of lemon. It was topped with a thin slice of lemon and served on top of overcooked pasta. School lunches were really something special lol.
I’ve worked on perfecting my personal take on lemon chicken and am so happy to share it with you. I’ve lightened up the dish by adding spinach to the pasta and a little spice to the sauce. Chicken cutlets are marinated for flavor and tenderness then lightly breaded and sauteed. The sauce has lots of garlic and briny capers and olives mixed with lemon juice to toss hot pasta and spinach through. Caramelized lemon wedges to squeeze on top add a complex sweet/tart finish.
Ingredients
Marinade
570 – 684g (1.25 – 1.5 lbs) chicken breast, sliced in half to make cutlets
2 t soy sauce
2 t mirin
0.75 t kosher salt
0.50 t ground black pepper
0.50 t onion powder
0.50 t garlic powder
0.25 t ground ginger
0.25 dried thyme, rubbed
1/8 t ground coriander
Broth
350ml (1.75 c) water
4g (5 in piece) dashima
Sauce
33g (0.25 c) all purpose flour
2 T olive oil
3 lemons
1 lemon, cut into quarters lengthwise
2 lemons, cut in half horizontally
50g (1/3 c) green olives w/ pimento, sliced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1.5 T capers, chopped
2 t caper brine
1.5 t gochugaru
0.50 t ground black pepper
0.25 t kosher salt
100ml (0.50 c) white wine
1.5 T butter, cut into chunks and kept cold until needed
Finishing
500g (a little more than 1 lb) linguine or other long dried pasta
454g (1 lb) spinach
Recipe Know-how
1. In a large bowl, combine the chicken marinade ingredients.
Mix well until the chicken has absorbed all of the liquids.
Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours and up to overnight.
2. In a small pot, bring the water for the broth to a boil.
Add the dashima and remove from the heat.
Allow to sit, covered for at least 2 hours.
3. Place a large pot of water on high and bring to a boil.
4. Lightly coat each of the chicken cutlets in the flour.
Knock off all of the excess flour possible.
The coating of flour should be very light.
Set aside.
5. Preheat a large saute pan with high sides, over medium-high.
Add the olive oil and heat until hot.
Working 3 – 4 cutlets at a time, brown for 2 minutes on each side.
Do not overcrowd the pan or the chicken will not brown properly and you may overcook the chicken in an attempt to achieve a brown color.
Remove to a plate and set aside.
Repeat with the remaining cutlets adding a little extra oil if necessary.
Reduce the temperature to medium.
Add 1 t more oil to the pan if needed. Place the quartered lemon to the pan and cook on the cut sides for 30 – 45 seconds or until golden in color.
Remove to a plate and reserve for garnish.
Add the olives, garlic, capers and brine, gochugaru, pepper and salt.
Saute for 1 minute stirring frequently.
Add the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any fond.
Reduce the wine by half.
Squeeze the juice of the 2 remaining lemons into the pan.
Add the dashima broth, removing and discarding the dashima.
Bring to a vigorous boil and cook for 1 minute.
Add the chicken and any collected juices to the sauce and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until cooked through.
Remove to a plate and keep warm.
Add the butter to the pan and cook swirling and stirring for about 1 minute or until thickened slightly.
Remove from the heat and pour about 1 T of the sauce over each of the chicken cutlets.
Keep the remaining sauce and chicken warm while cooking the pasta.
6. Heavily salt the boiling water and cook the pasta 2 minutes shy of package directions.
7. When the pasta is almost ready, place the sauce over high heat and bring to a boil.
Add the spinach to the pan.
Using tongs, place the hot pasta on top of the spinach.
Tossing frequently, toss the pasta through the sauce and spinach.
Continue tossing and cooking until the pasta is fully cooked and the spinach is wilted.
8. Divide the pasta between the plates and top each with the chicken cutlets and a caramelized lemon slice.
9. Serve with pickles on the side squeezing the lemon over the dish before eating.