Sunday, August 21, 2011

Chicken with Chorizo and Cannellini Beans


This is such a fantastic midweek meal - simple and delicious with very little preparation. Nigella recommends using any available cold cut of meat and I agree. If the chorizo is too fatty for you I would substitute with a nice trim, smoky piece of bacon.

INGREDIENTS
- 2 chicken breasts
- Approx. 125g of spincah leaves / rocket
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil (not extra-virgin)
- 100g chorizo, sliced then chopped (I just buy one sausage from the deli counter)
- 410g tin cannellini beans, drained
- 1 cup of frozen peas
- A little chicken stock (1/4 - 1/2 cup)
- smoked sweet paprika for sprinkling

METHOD
- If you have the time, marinate the chicken breasts for at least half an hour in a little stock with a tablespoon of paprika. I also throw in a table spoon of the chopped chorizo, just to instill that smoky flavour in the chicken. Sometimes I put in a little herb I have growing on my windowsill, such as parsley or rosemary.

- Cook the chicken breasts on a griddle or in a frypan, approx 5 minutes each side.

- While the chicken is cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan, throw in the chopped chorizo, add the drained cannellini beans, frozen peas and, stirring, warm everything through, moistening with a couple of tablespoons or so of the chicken stock - or more if you want this soupier.

- Arrange the spinach/rocket in 2 x bowls and tip the beans and chorizo mix on top, allowing the greens to wilt a little.

- place cooked chicken on top and sprinkle each chicken breast with a little paprika.

Adapted from: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chicken-with-chorizo-and-cannellini-beans-187