Butterfly Chicken With Red Pepper Tagliatelle

I actually thought that I'd already written this recipe up on the blog but turns out I haven't. Until now, that is.

I can't really remember where this recipe came from but it's one that I've been playing around with and changing for a couple of years. It's really simple but looks impressive and tastes great.

First, butterfly your chicken breasts. This is actually easier than it sounds. Remove the skin from the chicken and put it smooth-side down on a plastic chopping board. There is a thicker part and a thinner part on the back of the breast. Using a very sharp knife, carefully slice into the thicker part at the height of the thinner part, taking care not to cut all the way through. When you're about half the way through, start opening out the breast, making small cuts as you go until you can lay the breast flat. Next, take a meat mallet and carefully beat the chicken to get an even thickness.

Now to the marinade. For this put a couple of good slugs of olive oil into a large dish along with two finely chopped garlic cloves, about a teaspoon or so of finely chopped rosemary, a good pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and the juice of half a lemon. Put the chicken into the bowl, making sure each breast is covered in the marinade on each side. Put the bowl into the fridge and get on with your pasta sauce.

Take a sweet red pepper, the long pointy type, and put it under a hot grill until the skin is blackened all over. Leave it to cool then peel the skin off, take the top off, slice it open and remove the seeds. Cut the pepper into thin ribbons, like the tagliatelle you're going to add later.

Put the pepper into a large bowl and add a handful of quartered baby plum tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil, a finely chopped clove of garlic and some salt and pepper. You'll be adding some shredded basil leaves and a touch of lemon juice later.

Take the chicken out of the fridge and let it come back up to room temperature.

Now you're ready to cook. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and get a griddle pan on over a high heat.

Add a couple of handfuls of tagliatelle to the boiling water and gently coax the balls of pasta apart if you're using the dried stuff. Give them 3 minutes then get on to the chicken (remember, if you're using fresh pasta then this will only take a couple of minutes to cook so use your loaf and put the pasta on when the chicken only has a couple of minutes left).

The griddle pan should be hot now. Take each chicken breast from the marinade and lay them in the pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side. When the final 3 minutes is up, take the pan off the heat and leave the chicken to rest while you sort your pasta out.



Drain your pasta and add it to the bowl of peppers and tomatoes. Squeeze over a splash of lemon juice and chuck in a handful of shredded basil leaves. Give the whole lot a good mix together and serve alongside the chicken and a glass of ice-cold Sauvignon Blanc.



Enjoy!


The Bloke