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.
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