A delicious and easy dish to make, perfect for a family mid- week supper. Leave out the chicken breast and substitute the chicken with vegan stock for anyone on a plant based diet.
Ingredients (serves 4)
For the chicken
- 4 chicken breasts with the skin on
- 4 small sprigs of rosemary
- 2 garlic cloves in their skin
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large knob of unsalted butter
- ½ lemon, juice
For the lentils
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tin of lentils, 400g
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped in small dice
- 1 tin of corn, 340g
- 150g frozen peas
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 400ml chicken stock
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
Method
Preheat the oven to 1800C.
Wash and pat dry the chicken breasts. Remove their skin and stretch flat in a cold, dry, non-stick, frying pan, season with some salt and cover with the bottom of a cake tin. Place a weight over the tin bottom to keep the skin flat and fry at a low heat for 3 minutes. Remove the weight and tin base, discard any rendered fat and turn the skin over. Cover again and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the skin is totally flat, crispy and golden. Drain on some kitchen paper and keep to the side.
To cook the lentils, bring a large pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion, chopped fennel and carrots and cook stirring continuously for 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes before adding the tomato paste. Give everything a good stir and add the drained lentils and corn, bay leaves and stock. Bring the vegetables to the boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for 25 minutes. Add the frozen peas and cook for a few minutes more until all the liquid has been absorbed and all the vegetables are soft. Season with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, discard the bay leaves and mix in half the chopped parsley. Keep warm.
While the lentils are cooking, season the chicken breasts with some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put a large oven proof pan on a high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil begins to smoke, sear the breasts on one side for a couple of minutes then turn over, add the rosemary, garlic and butter and sear for another two minutes on the other side, basting with the butter. Drizzle with the lemon juice, cover with some aluminium foil and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
Take the chicken out of the oven, leave to rest for 5 minutes and carve.
To serve, spoon some of the lentil mix on a plate, sprinkle with the remaining parsley and top with the sliced chicken breasts and the crumbled chicken skin.