Last week, I decided to break out my Weber Smokey Mountain and smoke some St. Louis style pork ribs. I had received some continuing email from readers giving me grief for focusing on using the gas grill. I felt I needed to reclaim some BBQ street-cred.
Usually when I get the smoker out I try to smoke other things to eat through the following week, and this time I decided on a whole chicken. Once the fire gets started on an indirect smoker the internal cooking temperature of the smoker tends to hover around 240 to 250 degrees, which is perfect. Our wood of choice was chunks of hickory.
The ribs take around 6 hours using the “3-2-1” method while the chicken only takes around 4 hours. When done the chicken was nice and golden brown with a slightly smoky aroma. Once it cooled I pulled the meat from the bones and placed the shredded meat in a zip-lock bag. The next day we made a wonderful smoked chicken salad for our lunches for the week and one night for dinner we made the subject of today’s column. Both the chicken salad and the pasta dish were awesome. This pasta dish is embarrassingly easy to fix. Let’s get started. Trust me, this won’t take long.
Ingredients
1 box of penne pasta (we use whole wheat)
1 lb. of shredded smoked chicken
1 cup of basil pesto — bought at the store
¾ cup of Half and Half
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Fresh basil for garnishing
Salt and pepper to taste
Boil the penne pasta according to instructions. We like penne for this dish, but any pasta would work. I could have stretched out this column by making homemade pasta and homemade pesto, but I’m fully aware that most of you reading this won’t go to that trouble. Once the pasta is cooked to “al dente,” drain the hot water and drizzle the pasta with a little olive oil and toss. This keeps the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pot or to themselves. Add the pesto, the cream and the chicken to the hot pasta. Stir until all noodles are coated with sauce and place the lid on the pot. Let sit for 3 to 4 minutes. This will heat the chicken through. Plate and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and garnish with freshly clipped basil leaves. Enjoy!
Dave Lobeck is an Edward Jones financial adviser by day and a BBQ enthusiast on nights and weekends. You can contact Dave with your questions at davelobeck@gmail.com.
The Link LonkJuly 21, 2020 at 06:15PM
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DAVE LOBECK: Smoked chicken, basil combine for flavorful pasta - New Castle News
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Pasta
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