Cacio e Pepe with Za’atar Chicken
Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breasts
8 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp za'atar
1 8 cup freshly grated parmesan
pasta
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
Add olive oil, salt, za'atar and 2 tbsps of parmesan to the chicken breasts.
Heat a few tbsps of olive oil in a pan, add your chicken to the pan and cook until the chicken is golden brown on both sides. Set the chicken aside.
Cook your pasta as directed on the package but with heavily salted water and 1 minute less than instructed. Once the pasta is done cooking, remove the water and save for later.
Set aside ¼ cup of the remaining parmesan (about ¾ cup) and add the rest to a large bowl. Add ½ cup of the pasta water to the remaining parmesan and whisk until the cheese is melted.
In a large skillet, add freshly ground black pepper and let the pepper roast in the dry skillet for 1-2 minutes. Add ½ cup of pasta water to the skillet with the cheese/pasta water mix and add your cooked pasta.
Continue mixing while the sauce thickens and coats each piece of pasta.
Finish with mixing in the parmesan you set aside and serve with sliced chicken and garnished parmesan on top.