We enjoy making this Lemon Pasta Salad on for lunch on a Sunday and then
munching on it cold throughout the week either for lunch or when we need a
snack. It’s really good either warm right when you make it or cold.
Our inspiration for this salad came from one of our local markets, Andronico’s, who makes a version of this salad for their deli. Our original base recipe comes from a recipe in Bon Appetit, July 2000 issue where the writer claimed it was her own version of the deli version from Gelsons Market in Los Angeles. We tried a couple of our own variations before settling on this particular version.
The recipe uses about a pound (plus or minus — it doesn’t matter much) of
chicken (mostly breast meat). For convenience, I often get either a roasted chicken from the local market and strip it – or pick up two of the Louis Rich pre-cooked chicken breast pieces (two 6-oz packages) and use that. Of course, you can also cook chicken breasts specifically for the recipe!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup canola oil
- 3/4 to 1 pound of chicken cut into 3/4 inch strips
- 12 oz of lemon-pepper fettucine (we use
Mendocino Pasta’s) - 2 1/2 cups snow peas cut into matchstick size strips
- 3/4 cup pine nuts (raw or toasted, your pleasure)
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Directions
- Boil the water (salted) and cook the pasta al dente style. Drain.
- In a large bowl, mix chicken pieces, snow pea strips, pine nuts and Italian parsley.
- Add the cooked pasta to the large bowl.
- In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice and mustard together and then slowly add the canola oil while mixing all the time into a smooth consistent mixture.
- Pour the mixture slowly over the pasta and other ingredients in the large bowl, mixing all the while. Toss until well coated and mixed.
Scott's Kitchen 