Creamy Chicken & Sweetcorn Pasta

Ingredients

• 450g chicken breast mini fillets, diced
• 200ml hot chicken stock
• 400g pasta shapes, such as fusilli
• 100g frozen peas
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 x 198g tin sweetcorn, drained
• 200g double cream
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 40g Parmesan, finely grated
• 0.5 lemon, zested and juiced
• 15g parsley, chopped
• Garlic ciabatta, to serve
• Crisp green salad, to serve

Method

1. Cook the pasta in well-salted boiling water until a minute shy of al dente, around 9 minutes depending on shape. Scoop out a mugful of the cooking water, then drain.
2. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper and fry until golden on the outside and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Lift out onto a plate.
3. In the same pan, soften the onion for about 5 minutes until translucent and just catching at the edges. Add the garlic and sweetcorn and fry for 2 minutes more, until the corn picks up a little colour.
4. Pour in the hot stock and simmer for 3 minutes, scraping up the sticky bits from the base. Stir in the double cream, Dijon, lemon zest and half the Parmesan until you have a silky, glossy sauce.
5. Return the chicken to the pan, tip in the frozen peas and warm through for a minute or two. Add the drained pasta with a splash of the reserved water, tossing until the sauce clings in a creamy coat on every twist of fusilli.
6. Finish with the lemon juice and a good grind of black pepper. Taste — it should read bright from lemon, sweet from corn and savoury from cheese, never heavy.
7. Serve into warm bowls, scatter with the remaining Parmesan and a generous shower of parsley, with garlic ciabatta and a crisp green salad alongside.