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 (now out of business sadly!), 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 exactly) of chicken (mostly breast/white meat which we prefer rather than thigh/dark 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 