At this time of year my cooking tends to shift to lighter dishes to match the brighter evenings and (slightly) warmer weather. I haven’t made soup for a few weeks now, favouring salads for lunch instead. I love avocado at the moment, with some cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes, leaves and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. So simple but tasty, and quick to assemble at work.
I’ve been busy in the evenings with various things going on, so quick dinners are the name of the game. This creamy pesto chicken recipe is a winner. I’ve given the recipe to many friends who claim they can’t cook and they declare a triumph having tried it. It’s great for dinner parties and the amounts can be easily scaled up to serve more people.
Creamy Pesto Chicken
I love to serve this with new baby boiled potatoes in their skins with broccoli. For a more casual meal, serve with some crusty wholemeal baguette and a big bowl of salad.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tsp rapeseed oil
4 chicken fillets
1 carton cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp red or green pesto
200g tub reduced fat crème fraiche
Fresh basil
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Cut each chicken fillet in half across the width. Roll out a large piece of cling film across a flat surface such as a worktop. Place each piece of chicken on the cling film and cover with another large piece of cling film.
- Use a rolling pin or meat hammer to flatten the chicken. Don’t bash too much or it will disintegrate!
- Heat the rapeseed oil over a medium heat in a large frying pan. If you don’t have a large enough frying pan, use 2 pans and split the ingredients between them.
- Add the chicken pieces and cook for about 5 minutes on each side. They should be slightly golden in colour. Then add the cherry tomatoes and allow to cook for about 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
- In a bowl, mix together the crème fraiche and pesto. Then add to the chicken and tomatoes in the pan.
- Reduce the heat and allow to cook gently for about 5 minutes. It’s important to reduce the heat at this point or the crème fraiche will split.
- Just before removing from the pan, add in some fresh chopped basil leaves.
- Serve 2 pieces of chicken per person, stacked on a plate with the sauce poured over. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.
Nutrition information per serving (with baby potatoes & broccoli): 381 calories, 14g fat, 6g saturates, 5g sugars, 39g protein, 5g fibre
Source of Calcium, Iron, Folate, Vitamin C
