Lemon and pistachio chicken
I was given this recipe years ago by a chef in a pub in London and have served it every year since, usually around Easter time. I think it’s the pistachios that make it; the general greenness and lightness of the dish means it is very right for spring. Serve with spring greens or a big salad of pea shoots and watercress and some sautéed or boiled baby potatoes.
Ingrediënten
- 2 shallots finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme
- 70 g 2½oz unsalted butter
- salt and pepper
- 120 g 4¼oz shelled pistachio nuts
- 40 g 1½oz white breadcrumbs, plus more if needed
- finely grated zest and juice of 2 unwaxed lemons
- 2 tbsp olive oil plus more for drizzling
- good pinch of caster sugar
- handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves roughly chopped
- 6 large skin-on boneless chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- 300 ml ½ pint chicken stock
Instructies
- Put the shallots, garlic and half the thyme into a pan with 50g (1¾oz) of the butter and a pinch of salt.
- Set over a low heat and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Tip into a large bowl.
- Chop the pistachio nuts, or put them in a food processor and blend them until they are coarsely chopped.
- Add the nuts and the breadcrumbs to the shallot mixture.
- Add the lemon zest and juice, the oil, sugar and parsley and season well.
- Stir the mixture.
- It should form a stiff, coarse paste.
- If it seems too dry, add a little extra olive oil.
- If it seems too wet, add extra breadcrumbs.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
- Place the point of a knife into the thicker side of a chicken breast and cut a cavity that runs along the length of the flesh.
- Season the breast inside, then, using a teaspoon, fill the hole with the stuffing.
- Squeeze the sides of the breast together so that the incision closes as much as possible.
- Repeat with all the chicken breasts.
- Season the breasts on the outside, drizzle with a little olive oil and put them in a roasting tin.
- Bake in the hot oven for 20–25 minutes.
- Once the chicken is cooked, remove the breasts from the roasting tin and skim off the fat from the juices.
- Set the roasting tin over a medium heat and splash in the white balsamic vinegar and stock.
- Bring this to a rolling boil and reduce until slightly thickened.
- Throw in the remaining butter and thyme and serve the chicken with these juices.
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