Nici Wickes: Affordable entertaining - Creamy Chicken and Peas

Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

This one pan wonder of a dish is perfect to serve a group – it’s full of fresh flavours but is creamy and comforting too.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

3-4 free-range boneless skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper to season

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 leek or onion, finely sliced or diced

1 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon chilli flakes

¼ cup cream

1 ½ cups peas 

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Method

1. Remove tenderloin from chicken breasts. Slice each breast horizontally in half so you have two thinner pieces plus the tenderloin per breast. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken.

2. Heat oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Lightly brown chicken on both sides, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken to a plate. Add butter to the pan and add leeks or onions and cook gently until softened.

3. In a bowl mix stock, lemon juice, garlic and chilli flakes and pour this over leeks/onions. Bring to a rapid simmer and cook for 10 minutes or so. Add chicken back into the pan to heat through then pour over cream. At this stage it can be either placed over a gentle heat or popped into an oven heated to 180 C to cook for a further 6-8 minutes until sauce is thickened a bit.

4. Pour boiling water over frozen peas and let them sit for 5 minutes then drain. Add the peas to the pan in the final 2 minutes of cooking.

5. To serve, top with chopped parsley and a decent grind of black pepper and serve with some buttercrunch or cos lettuce.

Nici’s note

Adding the peas towards the end of cooking ensures they keep their vibrant green colour.

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