Lemon Garlic Pasta with Shrimp or Chicken

I have been wanting to make a yummy pasta dish for a few days. How about some lemon garlic cream sauce to go with it? Doesn't that sound soooooo yummy?

I had purchased some cream (never go to the grocery store hungry) on my last shopping trip, thinking I'd look for some recipes that sounded good.  I perused about 6 of them using lemons, and then I experimented.

Lemon-garlic pasta with chicken.

I liked how this turned out.  If I made it again I would maybe add some cayenne pepper or a few red pepper flakes for some heat. But it was tasty, as it was.  Here are the ingredients. 

INGREDIENTS 
1/2 cube real butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic or 2 garlic cloves crushed
1 Tablespoon flour (for thickening the sauce)
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon parsley flakes for garnish
1/3-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup chicken stock
2 T. lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. While pasta is cooking fry up the chicken or devein the shrimp. 

2. Put butter and garlic in a fry pan, mince up and saute. Add chicken stock, lemon and flour and mix up. Then add cream and spices. Add chicken or shrimp to the sauce and coat for a few minutes. Add Parmesan cheese and parsley last. Add salt and pepper to taste. If it seems too runny, let it set for 10 minutes and the pasta will absorb the sauce. Serve with some crusty bread and a spinach salad with berries and pecans.

I added a spinach salad with red onion, mushrooms, sliced almonds, blackberries, and raspberry vinaigrette. It was a delicious side dish to the lemon-garlic pasta.

Here is a chart to help if you run out of garlic cloves and have to substitute minced garlic in a jar or garlic salt.  You can also make this recipe with shrimp. Just simmer the shrimp in the sauce for about 3 minutes per side till it turns pink on the edges.  Enjoy!  

GARLIC EQUIVALENCIES

1 small clove garlic = 1/2 to 1 teaspoon minced

1 medium-size clove garlic = 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons minced 

1 large clove garlic = 2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons minced 

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder = 1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic = 2 medium cloves