Pasta Pesto, Garlic and Rosemary Chicken
Say goodbye to drab midweek meals with this gorgeous Italian-inspired chicken, pesto and pasta dish from Jamie Oliver's 15-Minute Meals cookbook. On the table in next to no time, it is a nourishing quick dish packed with flavour.
From the book
Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals
Inventive time-saving recipes
Fuss-free family favourites
Midweek meal inspiration
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Introduction
Download the 15 Minute Meals ebook here
Ultimately, 15-Minute Meals is a frame of mind, and I think if you give it a proper go you’ll really get into it. It’s fun, dynamic, no-nonsense cooking. Yes, the first couple of times you cook a recipe it might take a little longer, but that’s OK, it’s not a race.
Ingredients
| For the chicken: | |
| 2 x 200g | free-range skinless chicken breasts |
| 1 tsp | fennel seeds |
| 2 | sprigs of fresh rosemary |
| 2 tbsp | rapeseed oil |
| 4-5 | cloves of garlic |
| 1-2 | fresh red chillies |
| 8 | ripe cherry tomatoes |
| For the pasta and pesto: | |
| 250g | green beans |
| 1 | big bunch of fresh basil |
| 50g | blanched almonds |
| 50g | Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve |
| 2 tbsp | extra virgin olive oil |
| 1 | lemon |
| 1 | clove of garlic |
| 300g | fresh lasagne sheets |
| 200g | baby spinach |
Essential kit
You will need a large lidded casserole pan and a food processor.
Method
Ingredients out • Kettle boiled • Large frying pan, high heat • Large lidded casserole pan, high heat • Food processor (bowl blade)
START COOKING
On a large sheet of greaseproof paper, toss the chicken with salt, pepper, fennel seeds and the rosemary leaves • Fold over the paper, then bash and flatten the chicken to 1.5cm thick with a rolling pin • Put into the frying pan with the rapeseed oil, the bashed unpeeled garlic cloves and halved chillies, turning after about 3 or 4 minutes, until golden and cooked through • Line the beans up and cut off the stalks, put into the casserole pan, cover with boiling salted water and cook for 6 minutes with the lid on.
Pick a few basil leaves for garnish, then rip off the stalks and put the rest of the bunch into the processor with the almonds, Parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice • Squash in the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher • Blitz until smooth, adding a ladle or two of cooking water from the beans to loosen, then season to taste • Slice the lasagne sheets up into random handkerchief shapes and add to the beans to cook for a couple of minutes • Halve or quarter the tomatoes, add to the chicken and give the pan a shake.
Stir the spinach into the pasta pan, then drain, reserving a cupful of the starchy cooking water • Return the pasta, beans and spinach to the pan, pour in the pesto from the processor and stir together, loosening with splashes of cooking water until silky • Slice the chicken breasts in half and serve with the tomatoes and chilli spooned over the top • Finely grate a little extra Parmesan over the pasta, then sprinkle everything with basil leaves.
581 calories per serving.
Taken from Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals eBook, published by Michael Joseph. Recipe ©
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