Recipe: Angel Hair w/ Roasted Chicken & Bacon

Having guests over is sometimes cause for mild panic attacks for hosts. The idea of trying to impress guests with your fabulous (and impeccably clean) home, and your outstanding sense of great food can be a lot of work and money. This recipe is a quick meal yet doesn't lack in flavor, style and pizzaz. It only calls for a few simple ingredients, and one of my favorite go-to's…store bought organic rotisserie chicken!

TIP: TO MAKE COOKING BAKING LESS MESSY, BAKE IT IN THE OVEN, ON A BAKING SHEET, FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES ON 375. NO SPLATTER!!

ANGEL HAIR W/ ROASTED CHICKEN & BACON

1 lb of angel hair pasta
1 lb of thick sliced bacon – diced into large chunks
2 breasts of fully cooked organic rotisserie chicken – diced
1 pint of cherry tomatoes – halved
1/2 cup parsely
6 oz of shredded parmesan cheese
olive oil

Cook the bacon in the oven, on a lined baking sheet, at 375 degrees until crispy. Let cool and cut into large pieces. Carve the breasts of a store-bought organic rotisserie chicken and dice. Set ingredients aside.

Cook the angel hair in boiling, salted water for about 12-15 minutes or until al dente. Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and 2 tsp of kosher salt. Toss in the tomatoes, parmesan cheese and parsely. Then, toss in the bacon and chicken. Garnish with more parsely and parmesan cheese and serve alongside tomato foccacia bread or a french baguette.

Fresh Tomato and Arugula Angel Hair Pasta w/ Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken Leg Quarters

I love dishes that look elegant, taste great, yet doesn't involve me spending the whole entire day in the kitchen. An even better plus is that this dish is cost effective using very few and basic ingredients. What many people don't realize is that an elegant and delicious meal does not have to involve crazy, hard to find ingredients and super chef cooking techniques. It's usually the simplest and freshest ingredients, cooked a very basic way that yields amazing meals. What sets it apart is cooking with great, fresh food.

In this simple, Italian inspired pasta dish, I tossed in arugula, a mildly peppery green used inian elegant main dish, any night of the week.

The chicken leg quarters are simply spiced with lemon pepper, a premade spice mix found in any common grocery store in America. Just be careful about the amount of salt added in the mix, as you don't want to over salt the chicken. In keeping with the olive oil theme, I drizzled it with olive oil and squeezed lemon juice to brighten up the flavors even more. Stick it in the oven for 45 minutes and whala! Lemon pepper chicken!

Fresh Tomato and Arugula Angel Hair Pasta

1 LB of angel hair pasta

3 large diced roma tomatoes

2 sliced garlic gloves

1/2 medium sized onion or 2 shallots diced

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1 LB of fresh arugula

1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken Leg Quarters

5 chicken leg quarters

5 TBL of lemon pepper mix - 1 TBL for each leg quarter

Olive Oil

Juice of one lemon

salt

Cook the pasta until al dente in salted boiling water. Heat a large sauce pan in medium-high heat with olive oil. Cook the chopped onions (or shallots) and garlic until they become tender. Add the diced roma tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have started to break down, but has still retained most of their shape. Add the cooked pasta including some of the pasta water (no more than 1/4 cup) to help incorporate all the ingredients. Toss the pasta and turn the heat off. Take the pasta out of the saucepan into a serving dish. Toss the fresh arugula in with the hot pasta and top with 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Rub each leg quarter with 1 TBL of lemon pepper seasoning mix and 1 tsp of kosher salt. Dress in olive oil and lemon juice. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes, and until the internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees. Serve alongside pasta.