Chicken with a Creamy Leek and Mushroom Pappardelle

This is one of the dishes I came up with when I made the fresh pasta. The reason I chose pappardelle is that you can't really buy it in the shops. You could use spaghetti, penne or linguini. The sauce is a classic for use with pasta. It is a handy sauce to have stored in the bank. If you don't like mushrooms you could replace them with asparagus. This dish was rich and sumptuous and elegant.

You could prepare this whole dish in 15-20 minutes if you were going to use dried pasta.

Chicken with a Creamy Leek and Mushroom Pappardelle

by Trevor Thornton

Serves 2

Difficulty Moderate

Ingredients
olive oil
170g mushrooms or a small punnet
2 chicken fillets
1tbps butter
1 large leek, outer layer removed and roughly chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, skin removed and finely chopped
1 glass of white wine
1 glass of water
1 chicken stock cube
100ml cream
Enough pasta to serve 2

Method

Place a non stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Slice the mushrooms into thick slices. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to the hot frying pan and add the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the mushrooms for 4-5 minutes, remove from the pan and set aside.

Season the chicken fillets with salt and pepper. Add 2 tbsp olive oil into the same frying pan and place the chicken fillets into the pan. Cook for 2 minutes on one side and then turn over for another two minutes. The fillets should have a nice golden brown colour. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the butter with 2 tbsp of oil into the frying pan. Place the leeks into the frying pan and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the leeks are soft. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Don’t let the leeks take on any colour. Add the white wine, water and crumble the stock cube over. Reduce the liquid by half. Add the cream and place the chicken and mushrooms back in. Reduce the heat to low and lightly simmer the chicken for 5-8 minutes. Turn the chicken from time to time to evenly cook the fillet. You are poaching the chicken to keep it tender. Test the chicken is cooked by slicing the fillet in the thickest part. The chicken should be cooked through with no pink. If it needs more cooking place it back in and cook for another minute. Remove from the sauce and set aside. Cook the sauce until it has thickened. It should coat the back of a spoon when ready.

Cook the pasta as per manufacturer’s recommendations. If using fresh pasta cook for 2-3 minutes. When cooked add into the sauce. Slice the chicken and add into the pasta. Toss everything together and serve. Grate some parmesan and enjoy.