Inspiration has struck! Not to say I have not been cooking and all of us eating well but reverting to tried and tested recipes has been the theme this summer. This is one of those; my taste buds need it moments. I love sour, bitter, salty sharp flavors. Then the full round buttery flavour’s of Tuscany, sage, pepper, and brown butter. I gave a rough search for inspiration and one of my favourite chefs recipes popped up, of course, Tieghan from Halfbakedharvest.com
Ingredients:
| Left over roast chicken, meat stripped | 1 tsp flour |
| ½-1 cup of sage leaves | 2 tbsp of unsalted butter ( more if you like) |
| 1 cup chicken stock | Ground black pepper |
| 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice | ½-1 tsp mixed herbs |
| 1 shallot finely chopped | Olive oil |
| 2 tbsp of capers | ¼ cup of white wine (optional, I didn’t use it) |
| Roast Butternut and courgette | ¼ – ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese |
| 1 tsp lemon zest | |
| 500g Pasta, linguine or pappardelle |
Method:
I roasted the vegetables earlier in the day for the children’s food, so it was all ready to go. You can swap out what I used for what you have handy or need to use up, but I do think the butternut and courgette really suited the dish. Mushrooms and sweet potato could be delicious too, experiment with what you think can work.
Put 2 tbs of butter in a small/medium saucepan with 1 tbs of olive oil, let it heat up on a medium heat. Get your shallot in there and fry off for 1 minuteor less, then add your sage leaves, once the butter has browned and it is bubbling check your sage, but it should be crispy. Remove the sage and place to one side on some kitchen towel.
Pour in the cup of stock and stir for a minute. I put the flour in a cup with some hot water from the kettle and mixed it to a paste and added it in with the broth, stir well then add your lemon juice and wine (if using it), capers, lemon zest and a few grinds of black pepper, continue to stir until the sauce thickens. Keep an eye on it as you may need to turn your burners lower, so it is simmering not boiling. Get your dried mixed herbs or fresh chopped herbs in the pot. Cook for 3 -5 minutes till a lovely consistency, taste do you need more salt or pepper? Add it if you do.
Now get your pasta on, after if has cooked for half the cooking time grab some of that cooking water ¼ cup will do. I then put it in the roasting tin of my vegetables, to get all that yummy flavour. Take the vegetable out first. Strain your pasta and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on it and get it back in the pan on the heat add your vegetables and chicken ( I heated ours in the microwave) stir add the cooking liquor and turn up the heat for 1-2 minutes, not drop the heat and add your sauce.
Use your own judgement here of how much you need. I also added half of the sage leaves slightly crumbled now and saved the rest for dressing after. Turn off the heat and add half or all your parmesan cheese stir and serve, top with your crispy sage more black pepper and yum! Enjoy! Let me know how you get on with this one please?
Create You Coaching 