Chicken in a Creamy White Wine Sauce

This is the dish I demonstrated at The Ploughing Championship with (did I mention before?!) Neven Maguire. There are some ingredients I almost always have in my press and fridge which means I'm never stuck when we need a super quick dinner. This recipe is a firm favourite in my house. It's unusual for me to cook only one dinner but this dish suits all. The sauce is perfect with pasta or rice. My father who must have his daily portion of spuds will even have some of the chicken in the sauce with mashed potatoes. It takes less than 20 minutes to prepare and cook this dish, and it is really delicious.

Chicken in a Creamy White Wine Sauce
 
Ingredients

500g penne pasta
1tbsp olive oil
knob of butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, grated
180ml white wine
100ml chicken stock or 1/2 knorr stock pot dissolved in 100ml water
4 chicken breast, diced
200g mushrooms, sliced
180ml cream
flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Handful of baby spinach (optional)

Optional Roux (to thicken)

To Serve
Parmesan( to grate over)
Crusty bread
Green Salad

Method

1. Prepare the pasta according to the pack instructions.
2. Heat a large frying pan and add a little olive oil and a knob of butter.
3. Add the onion and cook until the onions are soft but not coloured. Stir in the garlic and continue to cook for a minute.
4. Add the wine and chicken stock. Let that bubble for five minutes.
5. Add the chicken, mushrooms, cream and parsley.
6. Stir well and bring the sauce back to the boil.
7. Turn down the heat and simmer for ten minutes until the chicken is fully cooked. Just a minute before serving stir in the spinach(a great way to increase the nutritional content).
8. Mix the chicken and sauce with the cooked pasta.
9. Serve in a large bowl with fresh parmesan grated over. Serve with either a green salad or green beans and crusty bread, to mop up all the sauce.