Chardonnay matched with chicken pasta

Chardonnay is the perfect accompaniment to chicken. Photo / Doug Sherring

Seifried Estate Chardonnay

Don: Chardonnay is a glorious food wine, because it covers a lot of flavour bases. Elements of tropical fruit, cream, toast and even nuts are typically present. This means you can safely reach for a bottle whether you're cooking fish, chicken, pork or even something like beef carpaccio or venison medallions. This example from Seifried is a gutsy chardonnay without being overly oaked, so it gives plenty of flavour without drying out the palate too much. It also has a lovely creamy character that works perfectly with pasta dishes too.

Chicken pasta with bread and walnut crumbs

Serves 4

1 Toast off some bread chunks in the oven to crisp and colour them.

2 Lightly toast some walnut halves. Allow these to cool, then process the two to give chunky crumbs.

3 Put some water on to boil and cook some pasta. I used the large shell shapes.

4 Slice 4 boned skinless chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces.

5 Sear these in a heavy-based pan and when they have a bit of colour, add some chicken stock and half a wine glass of chardonnay. Simmer the chicken in this to cook through.

6Once cooked, swirl some cream through the sauce, season well and transfer to your serving bowls.

Top with the walnut toast crumbs.