This is a great dish if you have a few people for dinner, it’s fast with minimal prep and really tasty. There’s lots of possible variants with this so you can really experiment with different sauces and even possibly adding a side accompaniment. It has a bistro feel and is guaranteed to impress your diner, I usually start with insalata caprese and this dish follows nicely.
This recipe serves two generously with a starter.
INGREDIENTS
2 chicken breast fillets, trimmed
One chorizo sausage. Skinned and sliced down the middle, length ways
125 ml Single cream
Lemon wedge
300g of fresh potato gnocchi -pre made will do, I find it takes the same time in the pan because it’s already pre boiled
Hand full of fresh basil
2 cloves of garlic
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
METHOD
Pre heat fan assisted oven to 200 degrees
Heat a small sauce pan over a medium heat and pour in the cream, season the cream with salt and pepper.
Next top and tail the garlic and bash them with a wide knife on a board, discard the skin and add to the pan of cream.
Roll up 6 to 7 good sized basil leaves and slice into ribbons, add to the pan and give a quick squeeze of lemon and stir, turn the heat down just to keep warm and allow to infuse.
Heat a large frying pan over a medium high heat and add the chorizo flat side down, no oil needed, let the chorizo release it’s oil in the pan. The chorizo will cook very fast so no more than a minute to minute and a half is necessary for a decent sear.
Flip the chorizo over once well coloured and cook for another minute, then wrap in foil and set aside.
Generously season the chicken with salt and pepper and place them in the same pan that cooked the chorizo, add a little oil and place over a medium high heat.
Sear well on both sides and then transfer to an oven proof dish, place on the middle oven shelf for 6 and a half to 7 minutes.
Wipe the pan with kitchen paper until it looks dry and place back on the heat, at this point give your cream a stir. The reason for wiping the pan is basically to remove the colour of the chorizo oil, orange gnocchi is not particularly attractive on the plate!
Add a knob of butter to the pan and straight away a drizzle of oil, this is to stop the butter burning.
Remove from the heat and roll the butter and oil around in the pan to combine.
Next add the gnocchi to the pan and season generously with salt and pepper, toss to coat in seasoning and oil.
Cook through and crisp the gnocchi on both sides by tossing regularly (for around 6 minutes)
When the chicken has 2 and half minutes of cooking time left, place the foil wrapped chorizo on the same shelf next to the chicken to warm through.
Once the chicken is cooked remove it along with the chorizo from the oven and allow to rest for one minute, whilst the meat rests arrange the gnocchi in a circular shape in the centre of a warm plate.
Drizzle the cream around the outside of your gnocchi, try to allow the least amount of liquid to come into contact with the gnocchi so it’s stays nice and crispy.
Place the chicken in the centre, on top of your gnocchi and finally the chorizo on the chicken. I always find a plate with height is really inviting and afterwards thought some lightly dressed watercress on the chorizo would have been nice.
A quick squeeze of lemon on the chicken and chorizo and your finished!
The Home Diners Diary 