This recipe combines; garlic, chicken, mushrooms, and onions in a rich creamy sauce, and when topped with some crispy, salty aubergine/eggplant, it tastes just divine.There is a lot of cream used, but the mushrooms soak it up, and the heat reduces it. However if desired, you could half the amount of cream used and only add more if the consistency of the sauce needs tweaking.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (skinless and boneless)
- 600 ml double cream
- 250 g penne rigate pasta
- 125 g chestnut mushrooms (sliced)
- 100 g baby leaf spinach
- 1 onion (finely diced)
- 1 garlic clove (whole)
- ½ small aubergine/eggplant (sliced)
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
Instructions
Preparation
- Cut the chicken into thin strips, so it cooks faster and mixes easily in with the pasta.
- Slice the aubergines, and sprinkle them with rock salt as you layer them to ‘sweat’ in a colander. Place a weight on top of the colander and leave for half an hour allowing excess water to drain from the aubergines.
Method
- Add a dash of olive oil to a pan, and the unpeeled garlic clove and fry it in the olive oil for a few minutes to flavour.
- Place the slices of aubergine/eggplant in the pan, and fry them until golden brown. Then remove them and put them in the oven at a low heat to stay warm.
- Add a little more olive oil if necessary, then add the onions and chicken to the pan. Soften the onions, and cook the chicken until it's begins to turn golden brown.
- Bring a pan of water to the boil and add a good pinch of salt, once at boiling point add the pasta and cook until it is “al dente”.
- Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan with the chicken, and pour over the double cream, stir it through and bring to a gentle simmer.
- A few minutes before the pasta is ready, place the spinach in a steamer or colander above the pan and wilt the spinach in the steam from the pasta water.
- Season the sauce with salt and plenty of black pepper to taste.
- Plate it all up by making a bed of spinach, topping with a portion of pasta, then pour over the creamy chicken and mushroom sauce.
- Garnish with slices of the fried aubergine/eggplant and a sprinkling of basil, and season to taste.
- Enjoy!
