Creamy Baked Pasta with Broccoli and Crispy Skinned Chicken
This pasta--coated in creamy, cheesy sauce--may feel luxurious but with lemon for brightness, herbs for flavor, and broccoli for texture, it’s also a simple and well-balanced weeknight dinner. And you can never go wrong with a crispy, succulent chicken thigh to top it off.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 2 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 10 garlic cloves
- 8 oz short pasta such as campanelle or penne
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 2 tsp thyme leaves
- 2 large sage leaves chopped
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 head (about 8 oz) broccoli cut into bite-sized florets
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta about a minute under the package directions for al dente. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of pasta water then strain and return noodles to pot, toss with a splash of the pasta water to keep from drying out.
- While pasta is cooking heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat in a deep oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Place skin side down in the hot oil and allow to cook undisturbed for 10-12 minutes. Flip over and cook for 4 minutes. Remove to a plate. Add garlic to the remaining oil in the pan and cook, stirring frequently until browned, about 1-2 minutes. Remove to plate with a slotted spoon.
- Add flour to the remaining oil in the pan and whisk together for about 1 minute. Slowly pour in milk and then pasta water while whisking constantly. Increase heat to medium-high and continue whisking until it reaches a low boil then reduce heat to low and cook, still whisking, until sauce thickens to coat the back of a spoon, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in cream cheese, Parmesan, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp white pepper until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add the pasta, garlic, thyme, sage, juice and zest of 1/2 lemon, and broccoli and mix together.
- Spread pasta into an even layer and place chicken thighs on top skin side up. Bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbling and chicken is cooked to 165°. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Any left-over pasta makes for a great lunch the next day.