Chicken breast with mushroom stuffing and Marsala glaze

This recipe is both classic and simple. Using the breast meat, it suits cooking for two people. The sauce is the pan juices deglazed with Marsala or Sherry as both produce delicious nutty flavours when cooked. Any wine other than Sauvignon Blanc (too herbal and green grass in flavour) can be use if you prefer. You just need to make sure that you season it with salt!

Ingredients

1	Garlic clove
1	Shallot, or small onion, diced
15 g	Butter
50 g	Mushrooms
2 slices	Bread, stale and diced
1 Tbsp	Parsley, finely chopped
1	Lemon, zest
2	Chicken breasts (Main)
1 Tbsp	Oil
3 Tbsp	Marsala, or sherry
2 Tbsp	Cream

Directions

Stuffing

1. In a small frying pan, fry the garlic and shallot in the butter until translucent.
2. Add the mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes until cooked. Add the breadcrumbs, cooking until the butter has been absorbed.
3. Take off the heat, add the parsley and lemon zest and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To cook the chicken

1. Heat the oven to 180C.
2. Stuff the chicken breast by lifting the tenderloin up (if there is no tenderloin, ignore this). Press half of the stuffing on to the breast meat. Cover the stuffing with the tenderloin. Wrap the breast with kitchen string to secure the stuffing in place and tie. Repeat with second breast.
3. Heat a frying pan and add oil. Add the breasts skin side down and season with salt. When browned on one side, turn and seaon again. After 3 mintutes, place the pan in the hot oven for a further 10-12 minutes or until cooked.
4. Remove from the oven and cover with foil to rest for 5 minutes.
5. To serve, place the chicken on a chopping board and remove the string. Slice in half and place on a warmed plate. Cover with foil while you make the sauce.
6. Return the pan of chicken juices to the hob. Add the Marsala or Sherry and let it reduce for 2-3 minutes (this is called de-glazing). Add the cream and taste for seasoning.
7. Pour the sauce over the chicken. You may need to pour over through a sieve to remove any burnt pan leftovers.Season with freshly ground black pepper.
8. Serve with potatoes and greens.

Tip

It’s cheaper to buy whole chickens and cut them into pieces yourself. Store the pieces in the freezer in ziplock bags for later use.