Chicken Breast in Mushroom and Blue Cheese Sauce Linguine

Had a few random items in the fridge and a craving for Blue Cheese so I decided to try something new, which turned out surprisingly well so I thought I would share it with you here. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients (Serves 2)

2-3 Chicken Breasts (Skin on)
1 Medium Sized Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
500g of Mushrooms, ideally a few different types (I used Forestiere, Chestnut and Portabello)
50ml of white wine
50g of Stilton (or similar blue cheese)
250ml of Chicken Stock (personally use knorr stock pot)
50ml of Single Cream
Truffle Oil (or Olive Oil)
250g of Linguine
Rock Salt
Pepper

Method


Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 6
Heat a small amount of Truffle Oil in a frying pan to a very high temperature
Place a saucepan of water on a hot ring and bring to the boil.
Dry of the Chicken Skin with a piece of Kitchen Roll, and the sprinkle with rock salt and pepper.
Place Chicken skin side down in the very hot pan, press it down for a few seconds and then leave skin side down to cook for approx 5 mins.
Turn the Chicken and leave on the opposite side for a further 3 mins.
Remove from the frying pan and put in an oven proof dish and in the bottom shelf of the oven for 15-20 mins.
Using the same frying pan add a little more oil and fry off the onion and garlic until lightly brown then add the mushrooms and saute them off.
Place Linguine in the pan of boiling water, bring back to the boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
Add in the white wine and cook for a further few mins
Add the Chicken Stock to the pan and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat and leave to simmer.
With a couple of min's left before the Linguine is ready, crumble the cheese into the mushrooms sauce and stir around.
Reduce the heat to low and add the cream into the sauce.
Take the Chicken out of the oven and remove from bowl.
Add any juices in the ovenproof bowl from the chicken into the sauce.
Strain the Linguine and add into the frying pan and mix well with the sauce.
Slice the Chicken breast into pieces, plate up the Linguine and the sauce and then arrange the chicken breast on the top with the golden brown crispy skin facing up, and serve.

This recipe takes no more than 25 mins including preparation to cook and serve and uses many items you will often find around the kitchen/ fridge. It can be edited obviously and doesn't need to have different types of mushrooms and can use any blue cheese.

It is a fairly rich dish and I have found that I needed small portions of this compared with a normal pasta dish.

Please feel free to leave me any thoughts or feedback on the recipe and take a look at my other recipe idea's.

Potato and Leek Soup, with a twist! (v) Slimming World Friendly

My Girlfriend loves Potato and Leek soup and had been nagging me for weeks to make one for her, she also loves Brussels Sprouts so I decided to try doing something that combined both of these winter favorites into a warming soup. This recipe is fairly quick and simple, I have suggested leaving the potato skins on, and using either a mandolin or food processor to thinly slice if easier as this will help keep preparation time low.

This dish is suitable for Vegetarians and is Slimming world friendly and Sin Free.

Ingredients

2 Sticks of Celery
1 Medium Onion
1 Clove Garlic
4-5 Medium Potato's
12 Brussel Sprouts
1 Large Leak or 1/3 of a bag of Tesco Shredded Leek and Cabbage mix
1 Vegetable Stock Pot
2 Tesco Value Vegetable Stock Cubes
1/4 Cup Long Grain Rice
Mixed Herbs
Salt
Pepper
Frylight
Boiling Water

Method

Finely chop the Celery, Onion and Garlic, gently fry these in a saucepan with some Frylight and a little salt and pepper until soft and starting to lightly brown
Thinly slice the potato, either by hand or using a food processor or mandolin. There is no need to peel them if washed and clean but you can if you prefer.
Add the potato to the pan with the onion, garlic and celery and continue to fry.
Finely slice the sprouts again this can be done using the food processor or mandolin if easier.
Add the sprouts to the pan and fry for a further 5 mins.
If using a fresh leak, chop thinly and add to pan or add in the shredded cabbage and leak mix. (I personally prefer to use the mix as I think the cabbage helps to add a little flavor. Add a little more Salt and pepper and the mixed herbs and fry for a further couple of mins.
Boil a kettle of water.
Add the stock pot and stock cubes into the saucepan and stir in to the fried off veg, turn the heat on the hob down and add 1 1/2-2 Pints of boiling water, (Exact amount is adjustable depending on how thick you like your soup.)
Bring to the boil and once boiling add the 1/4 of the cup of rice. The rice will help give the soup a creamy, thick consistency, and is a healthier option than adding cream to the recipe. (Cream can be used if preferred but if on slimming world diet would need to be sinned.
Allow to simmer for 45-60 mins ideally.
This can then be served chunky or using a hand blender or food processor it can be blended into a lovely creamy smooth soup.

This dish can be served straight away or can be kept and reheated at a later point in the microwave or on the hob. This soup can also be frozen if required.

As always I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave any comments or feedback on this or any of my other recipes.

Regards
ManAboutTheKitchen