Fried Chicken and Pasta

We were having a discussion about what to have for dinner and couldn't agree. I really wanted a roast chicken dinner, roast potatoes and the whole bit, Declan was in the humour for a light pasta dinner and the kids wanted something so long as it involved breadcrumbs.

Hmmmm?

So we needed a compromise.

I have an app on my iPhone called Jamie's 20 minute Meals that I have only used a couple of times, but the intentinn was that if I was on the way home and inspiration was failing me, I would have a portable cookbook. The recipes in it are lovely, and quite adaptable, but I was sure that there would be none that would keep us all happy.

I was wrong!

I followed the recipe to the letter. The application even gives you step by step instructions starting with heating the plates in the oven.

The recipe was for Fried Chicken with Spaghetti and Tomato sauce. I had all the ingredients except chicken breasts and the herbs, so shopping wasn't even a chore.

Serves 4

First you put on 300g of spaghetti or linguini in a large pot of boiling salted water. I prefer linguini.

In the meantime, slice 2 cloves of garlic and fry lightly in a splash of olive oil until just starting to colour and add the chopped stalks of a small bunch of parsley and basil. (about 2 teaspoons ) Reserve the leaves for later .

Fry for a minute and add a tin of chopped tomatoes. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Then slice 4 chicken breasts into three equalish sized pieces, lay them on a board and cover with a piece of cling film and (the fun part) wallop them with a frying pan or rolling pin until flattened to about a cm thick.

Dip the chicken first into seasoned flour then a beaten egg and breadcrumbs.

(You will need about a cup of flour 2 beaten eggs and 300g of crumbs)

Fry them in a splash of olive oil for about 3-4 minutes each side, while the sauce is simmering and the pasta is cooking.

Drain the pasta when cooked and coat with a little olive oil to keep it from getting sticky.

Serve the pasta with sauce on top and the parsley and basil leaves on top, and the chicken on top.

What I love about this is the chicken cooks nice and quickly as it is thin and stays juicy.

I put a fair bit of seasoning into the flour as it could be very bland without it.

Grated Parmesan in the crumbs would also be nice here.

It was all eaten up. Success!!