Serves: 5 -6
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 5 Chicken breasts
- 1 Beetroot
- 4 Sprigs of thyme
- 2-3 Large basil leaves
- 1 Butternut squash
- 150ml Cream
- 15 Asparagus tips
- Salt & Pepper
For the sauce:
- 3 Shallots
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 250ml White wine
- 350 ml Cream
- 1 chicken stock cube
1. Start by heating your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Peel and cut the butternut squash, cutting lengthways. Remove deseed using a spoon and cut up into equal size pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes or until soft.
2. Get the filling for the chicken ready. Dice up your beetroot, remove the stalks from the thyme and chop up your basil. Mix together and taste, adjust if necessary.
3. Get your chicken breasts and score them lightly so they are a bit easier to flatten out. Place a piece of cling film over the top of the fillet and using a pot or mallet flatten the chicken fillet. You want to be able the roll the fillet so the filling is completely enclosed.
5. Place the chicken fillet on top of some cling film. Roll the fillet over on itself so the filling is enclosed. Roll the cling film around the fillet making sure to keep it tight. Once rolled grab the cling film at each end and twist until tight at both ends. Once all the fillets are done place in the fridge.
6. Once the squash is ready place in a mixer and blitz. Add the cream gradually and season. Blitz until smooth. You don’t want to add all the cream at once as it could become too thin. Taste and adjust if necessary. Once ready place in a pot and keep warm over a low heat. Keep an eye on it as you don’t want the puree to burn. If you want it completely smooth you can pass the mix through a sieve and then into the pot.
7. Dice up your shallots into small pieces and do the same with the garlic. Heat a pot over a medium heat with a small bit of oil and add the shallots and the garlic and sweat for 3-4 minutes. Add the wine and cook for a further couple of minutes so the alcohol cooks off. Add the cream and slowly heat ensuring not to boil it. Once hot crumble the stock cube in ensuring you mix until it is completely dissolved. Don’t add any salt as the stock cube is salty enough. Taste and once happy with it leave over a low heat.
8. Remove the chicken from the fridge and bring a pot of water to the boil. Place the chicken in the water, leaving the cling film tightly wrapped around it. Cook for 10 minutes or until firm to the touch.
9. While the chicken is cooking you can cook the asparagus tips. Heat up a pan, griddle if you have one, over a high heat with a small bit of oil. Place the asparagus in the pan once hot and season with salt and pepper. They only take 3-4 minutes. You could also cook them in the oven if you want but I think a pan gives a better flavour.
10. Once everything is ready you can plate it up. Remove the film from around the chicken and slice into 3 or 4 pieces. Place some of the squash puree on the plate along with the sauce and the asparagus.
Enjoy.
