Garlic, basil chicken with a tomato, chilli and butter sauce

Garlic, basil chicken with a tomato, chilli and butter sauce

• 2 chicken breasts
• Handful of fresh basil, cut into ribbons
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 6 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 55g of salted butter
• Salt and pepper

Method: 

Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of cling film and give them a good bashing with a rolling pin or the base of a heavy pan, basically we need to flatten them somewhat in order that they cook quicker.  Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, season the chicken breasts with the salt and pepper and fry in the hot oil for around 15 minutes or until cooked through, you want to get some good colour on each side of the breast.  Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.  Remove the pan from the heat and allow the oil to cool slightly, otherwise if the oil is too hot when you add the tomatoes they will spit all over the place!  Place the pan back onto your hob on a lowish heat, add the chilli and garlic and fry for a few minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes.  Increase the heat slightly, season with salt and pepper and give everything a good stir.  You want to get the tomatoes bubbling as we need to reduce them down somewhat in order to get a chunky sauce, this should take around ten or 15 minutes.  Once the sauce is at the desired consistency add the butter, return the chicken breasts to the pan and add the chopped basil and stir through, cooking for a further couple of minutes.

I served this dish on a bed of spaghetti and also a bed of courghetti spaghetti, as the other half is watching his carbs!  With this dish you can leave out the chilli if you don't like a kick or add more if you like a big kick!  I think next time I would add some chopped olives to the dish to give it an extra texture and that briney olive taste, but on the whole a good dish which we both enjoyed, I might also bread the chicken as well with my lemon, Parmesan breadcrumbs, watch this space.

Garlic, basil chicken with a tomato, chilli and butter sauce on a bed of courghetti spaghetti