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Pancetta-topped chicken with lentils & watercress sauce
This quick, peppery, vibrant green sauce doesn’t require any cooking and acts as the perfect foil to the earthy lentils and salty breadcrumbs
Source of fibre
1 of your 5 a day
Serves2
CourseMain meal
Prepare15 mins
Cook15 mins
Total time30 mins
Ingredients
2 Cooks' Ingredients Sliced Pancetta
15g panko
4 fresh thyme, leaves only, roughly chopped
½ unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
80g watercress, thick stems discarded
50g half fat crème fraîche
380g pack, 2 British chicken breast fillets
½ tbsp olive oil
250g beluga lentils
Method
Heat a large frying pan over a high heat. Cook the pancetta until browned and thoroughly cooked, then set aside on kitchen paper to crisp up, leaving the fat in the pan. Tip the breadcrumbs and thyme into the hot fat and fry over a low heat for a couple of minutes, or until golden. Transfer to a bowl, stir through the lemon zest, then crumble in the pancetta. Season and set aside.
Put the lemon juice into a food processor with most of the watercress, the crème fraîche and 1-2 tbsp water. Whizz until smooth, then season and divide between 2 plates.
Put the chicken between 2 pieces of parchment paper and bash with a rolling pin until 1cm thick. Season. Wipe out the pan used to fry the pancetta, then heat the oil in it. Cook the chicken breasts for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until thoroughly cooked, the juices run clear and there is no pink meat. Heat the lentils according to pack instructions, add to the plates with the sauce, then top with the chicken, the reserved watercress and breadcrumbs.
Cook’s tip
Flattening chicken breast fillets means they cook more quickly and more evenly. It also helps to tenderise the meat.
