Pasta with Lemon Butter Cream sauce

When I was visiting my parents last week, I decided to make dinner one night.  Dinner there isn't the easiest thing, with the various tastes and restrictions in the house.  My husband doesn't eat seafood, Mom isn't a fan of chicken, and Dad will only eat pasta if it has enough other stuff in it to make it a full meal.  I threw this together while picking things up at the grocery store, so I'm sure there are ways to improve it!  I would possibly have added Greek olives and capers, but that didn't come until an afterthought.  Because of the preferences of the family, I made two bowls of the pasta topped with shrimp and two topped with chicken.  You could always mix the two or just use one or the other.  If you want to choose just one, plan your amounts accordingly!

Here you go, hope you love it!

Ingredients (Feeds about 4-5):

3 medium boneless-skinless chicken breasts
12-14 Jumbo shrimp, pre-cooked, shelled, deveined and tails removed
1 1/2 c salted butter
1/3 c flour
1 c milk (I used 1%)
1/3 c lemon or lime juice (more or less to taste, I love acid, so I use a lot) plus 4T lemon or lime juice
1 box uncooked pasta
8 oz crumbled feta cheese (divided per portion)
1 can artichoke hearts, quartered and warmed (divided per portion)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2:  In a medium saucepan, melt about 1/8c butter over med-high heat.

Step 3:  Add raw chicken breasts to melted butter in pan.  Add about 2 T lemon or lime juice.  Cook breasts on each side for about 6 minutes or until it begins to brown.

Step 4:  Transfer chicken breasts, along with any liquids and drippings, to an oven-safe dish.  Cover and place in oven for about 20 minutes or until chicken is fully-cooked.

Meanwhile...

Step 5:  Add remaining butter to a cold saucepan along with flour and 1/3 c lemon/lime juice.  Melt and combine ingredients over low heat.  If you heat it too quickly, your butter will separate and get kind of gross-looking.  The milk will also not mix in as well later if your butter "breaks."

Step 6:  Bring water to a boil in a medium stock pot (for noodles).  Add pasta and cook 9-10 minutes or until the pasta is fully cooked.  Drain pasta and set aside.  A small amount of olive oil may be added if you are worried about the noodles sticking together.

Step 7:  While water is boiling and pasta is cooking, sauté shrimp in a small saucepan with 1/8c butter and about 2T lemon or lime juice.  As the shrimp are already fully cooked, you just want to cook them long enough to warm them through and add flavor.  Be sure not to allow them to become rubbery.

Step 8:  Remove chicken from oven and transfer to a cutting board to allow the meat to rest 5-10 minutes.

Step 9:  Slowly mix milk into the butter mixture, stirring constantly.  You may want to add less milk if you want a thicker sauce.  Cook only until the sauce is warmed though, being careful not to allow the sauce to boil.

Step 10:  Add pasta to a plate/bowl.  Top with artichoke hearts, feta cheese and shrimp and/or sliced chicken.  Pour sauce over the top and serve immediately.