Greek Pasta Salad Recipe With Chicken Gemelli Barilla Food

GREEK CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Use a zester, microplane, or small-holed cheese grater to remove the zest from the lemon. Set the zest aside. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a separate bowl. You'll need at least 1/4 cup juice.
• Prepare the dressing and marinade by mincing two of the three cloves of garlic and combining them with 1/4 cup lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, salt, some freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of the lemon zest. Whisk these ingredients until well combined.
• Place the chicken thighs in a small zip lock bag and add half of the dressing, saving the rest to add to the salad later. Mince one more clove of garlic and add it to the bag with the chicken and marinade. Squeeze the air out and massage the bag to make sure the thighs are well coated in the marinade. Refrigerate the thighs for at least 30 minutes.
• While the chicken is marinating, cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain in a colander, and let cool.
• Heat a skillet over a medium flame. Once hot, add the marinated chicken thighs and cook on each side until they are well browned and cooked through (about 5 minutes each side). There should be enough oil in the marinade to keep the meat from sticking. Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet and let it rest for about five minutes. Once slightly cooled, chop the chicken into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
• While the chicken is cooking, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Dice the cucumber and bell pepper. Slice the tomatoes in half (or dice if using Roma or regular tomatoes). Pull the parsley leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop.
• Finally, build the salad. Add the cooked and cooled pasta to a large bowl. Top the pasta with the cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes, parsley, and chopped chicken. Crumble the feta over top and add a pinch or two of the lemon zest. Pour the remaining dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.

GREEK PASTA SALAD RECIPE WITH CHICKEN & GEMELLI | BARILLA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook gemelli pasta one minute less than required, drain and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place on sheet tray to cool down.
• In a bowl, season chicken with 1 tablespoon olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper.
• Heat a large skillet and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sear the chicken, once cooked through remove from the skillet and cool down.
• In a large bowl combine all the ingredients and toss Greek pasta salad well, season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Garnish with slices of chicken.

GREEK PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the penne, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Rinse with cold water and drain well in a colander set in the sink.
• Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Set aside. Combine pasta, tomatoes, onion, green and red peppers, cucumber, olives, and feta cheese in a large bowl. Pour vinaigrette over the pasta and mix together. Cover and chill for 3 hours before serving.

GREEK-STYLE CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Cook pasta as directed until al dente, careful not to overcook the pasta, just until chewy and firm, but cooked; drain well.
• Rinse in cold water.
• Mix together all pasta ingredients in a bowl.
• Mix all dressing ingredients; add to pasta mixture; toss well to coat.
• Let sit in refrigerator for 2 or more hours before serving, to blend the flavours.
• Sprinkle more Feta cheese on top to garnish.
• ***NOTE*** since this is a big favorite in my house, I usually just cook up the entire package of pasta, and just increase the vegetable amounts, there is really no need to double the dressing ingredients if you should use the whole package of pasta, as the salad may become oily, but by all means it may certainly be doubled if desired. The bacon is optional, I rarely add it.