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Milk-poached chicken with peas and pasta recipe

Milk-poached chicken with peas and pasta recipe

52 ratings

Try out a new healthy pasta recipe with this quick and easy chicken and pea tagliatelle. Poaching the chicken breasts in milk helps keep the meat wonderfully tender, perfect for mixing through the pasta once cooked. What’s more, the garlic, lemon and herb-infused milk becomes a creamy sauce to bring the whole dish together, all in just 30 minutes. See method

  • Serves 4
  • 10 mins to prepare and 20 mins to cook
  • 462 calories / serving
  • Healthy

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 500ml whole milk
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 lemon, zested 
  • 6 tarragon sprigs
  • 225g tagliatelle
  • 175g frozen peas
  • 3 tbsp cornflour
  • 80g reduced-fat soured cream
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
If you haven't got tagliatelle, try using spaghetti or linguine

Each serving contains

  • Energy

    1955kj
    462kcal
    23%
  • Fat

    9g 13%
  • Saturates

    5g 24%
  • Sugars

    13g 14%
  • Salt

    0.7g 12%

of the reference intake
Carbohydrate 66.5g Protein 32.1g Fibre 5.4g

Method

  1. Place the chicken breasts between 2 sheets of clingfilm on a chopping board. Bash the chicken with a rolling pin to flatten to about 1.5cm thick.
  2. Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and add the chicken, garlic, lemon zest and half the tarragon. Season, bring to a gentle simmer (see Tip, below) over a low heat and cook for 10 mins or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and set aside to rest for 10 mins before cutting or shredding into thin slices.
  3. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the tagliatelle for 10 mins until tender, adding the peas for the final 2 mins.
  4. Mix the cornflour with 4 tbsp cold water to make a paste. Strain the chicken poaching liquid into a clean saucepan and add the cornflour paste, soured cream and mustard. Stir together and simmer gently over a low heat for 2-3 mins until thickened.
  5. Drain the pasta and peas. Add to the creamy sauce along with the chicken and toss gently to combine. Divide between 4 plates or bowls and scatter with the remaining tarragon to serve.

Tip: Gently simmering the chicken in the milk, and when thickening the sauce, will ensure the mixture doesn’t split – the liquid should just have a few small bubbles coming to the surface rather than a strong, bubbling boil.

Tip: To make this recipe gluten-free, swap the pasta for Tesco Free From tagliatelle pasta.

See more Chicken pasta recipes

For top tips on protecting you and your family when preparing raw meat and poultry, visit Food Safety in the Home.

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