Chicken breasts with wild mushroom sauce and puy lentils
Chicken breasts with wild mushroom sauce and puy lentils
For years this was my ‘posh dinner party’ number. People used to want a sauce and a bit of cream. Times have changed, but this is still a lovely dish. You can make the sauce and lentils ahead of time and reheat them, which makes it convenient, too.
Ingrediënten
FOR THE SAUCE
- 25 g scant 1oz dried wild mushrooms
- 15 g ½oz unsalted butter
- 100 g 3½oz mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 350 ml 12fl oz well-flavoured chicken stock
- 125 ml 4fl oz double cream
- salt and pepper
FOR THE CHICKEN
- 6 skin-on boneless chicken breasts the best you can afford, each 150g (5½oz)
- 20 g ¾oz unsalted butter
- a splash of groundnut or rapeseed oil
FOR THE LENTILS
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 carrot finely chopped
- 1 celery stick finely chopped
- 300 g 10½oz Puy or Umbrian lentils
- 450 ml 16fl oz chicken stock, more if needed (optional)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp sherry vinegar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1½ tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
Instructies
- Start with the sauce, which you can make in advance if you want and reheat at the last minute.
- Pour 75ml (2½fl oz) of boiling water over the dried mushrooms and leave to soak for 15 minutes.
- Melt the butter and sauté the other mushrooms until well coloured.
- Drain the wild mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquor, and chop any that are large.
- Add to the mushrooms in the pan and cook for another minute.
- Pour on the stock and soaking liquor and cook until the liquid has reduced by two-thirds.
- Add the cream and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
- Taste and season, you shouldn’t need any salt because of the reduced chicken stock.
- Allow the chicken breasts to come to room temperature.
- For the lentils, heat the regular oil in a heavy-based pan and gently sauté the onion, carrot and celery for 10 minutes.
- Add the lentils, stock and bay leaf and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20–25 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked but still have a little bite.
- (Keep an eye on them as they turn mushy very quickly.
- ) By the end of the cooking time the stock should have been absorbed (you may need a little more stock or water during cooking).
- Gently stir in the vinegar, virgin oil and parsley, check for seasoning and cover to keep warm.
- Heat the butter and oil for the chicken in a large frying pan.
- Season the chicken and put it in the pan, skin side down.
- Cook for two minutes on each side over a medium heat, then reduce the heat and cook for six or so minutes, turning, until cooked through but still moist.
- Quickly reheat the sauce.
- Either leave the breasts whole or cut them, on a slight angle, into two or three pieces.
- Put some lentils into the centre of six warmed plates, put a chicken breast on top of each serving and spoon some of the sauce around.
- Serve immediately.
