Spiced chicken recipe

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• olive oil
• 2 × 400 g tins of Puy lentils
• 1 ripe tomato
• 200 g baby spinach
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 4 heaped tbsp fat-free natural yoghurt

• 4 × 120 g skinless chicken breasts
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 handful of fresh thyme, rosemary and/or bay
• 4 rashers of smoked pancetta
• 1 bunch of asparagus (300 g)

• Crusty bread

1. Peel and halve the onion and carrot, then blitz in the processor with the rosemary leaves until fine. Put into the large pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, tossing regularly. On a large sheet of greaseproof paper, toss the chicken with salt, pepper and the cayenne, then fold the paper over and bash and flatten to 1.5 cm thick with a rolling pin. Put into the frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, the unpeeled whole garlic cloves and a handful of fresh herbs, turning after 3 or 4 minutes, until golden and cooked through.
2. Stir the tinned lentils (and their juices) into the veg pan with the roughly chopped tomato and put the lid on. Pop the bread into the oven to warm through. Roughly chop the spinach in the processor and add to the lentils with the red wine vinegar. When the lentils are boiling and the spinach wilted, season to taste. Add the pancetta and trimmed asparagus to the chicken pan and fry until golden and crispy.
3. Tip the lentils on to a platter, then marble through most of the yoghurt. Remove the chicken to a board, cut in half at an angle, and serve on top of the lentils with the crispy pancetta, asparagus and garlic. Dollop over the remaining yoghurt, then serve with the crusty bread to mop up the juices