Italiano tonight!!

This week Chad and I will celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary! It's been such a wonderful 3 years and I wanted to do something special for him but my budget is $0.00 now that I am a stay-at-home mom. So I thought why not cook him delicious new recipes all week so he has a hot meal to come home to. However I wanted to not just have a hot meal here... I want the meals to be AMAZING and have that WOW factor. I began the week with this wonderful dish of Summertime Spaghetti! This is definately a recipe that I will have to repeat - not only in the summer but all seasons as well. It takes a little prep time but it's definately worth the wait!

Spaghetti in Garlic Gravy with Herbs and Lemon Marinated Chicken and Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients:
500 grams spaghetti pasta (cooked al dente)
1 pound chicken breast fillets (sliced into 1 inch chunks)

For the chicken marinade:
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped (if using dried, use half of the amount)
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of ½ a lemon
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt (not table salt)
½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (to sauté the marinated chicken)
-  Add all the marinade ingredients into the chicken and marinade for 20 minutes (if making this dish in pronto) or over night (if making this dish the next day… much better).
-  Saute the marinated chicken in extra virgin olive oil until cooked (about 4-5 minutes) then set aside.

For the garlic gravy:
½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, finely minced
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 ½ cups chicken stock
1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup parsley, chopped (to sprinkle/finish the pasta)
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cups whole cherry tomatoes
-  Place sauté pan over medium heat and add butter and olive oil.
-  Saute garlic until fragrant and soft.
-  Add the flour and cook for a minute.
-  Add chicken stock and simmer gravy until thickened then add the chopped basil.
-  Season with salt and pepper.
-  Add the sauteed chicken in the gravy then toss the cooked spaghetti into this  sauce.
-  Add the cherry tomatoes and finish the dish with the chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese (serve extra on the side).
Makes 5-6 servings