Ben says: “A favourite recipe is breaded chicken with spaghetti in garlic, chilli, parsley and olive oil. A classic dish from Italy, and my absolute personal favourite: timeless comfort food at its best. Before my daughters Annie-May and Betsy made the honourable decision to become vegetarian, it was a big favourite of theirs too.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthways
2 eggs
Splash of milk
100g plain flour, seasoned generously with salt and pepper
250g breadcrumbs
Olive oil, for shallow frying
400g dry spaghetti
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1⁄2 bunch of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Parmesan, finely grated
2 lemons, halved

Method

Begin by flattening each piece of chicken to tenderise it, preferably with a meat hammer or a hard utensil such as a rolling pin. This is best done between two sheets of cling film to protect the meat so it doesn’t tear on impact.

Put the eggs and milk into a mixing bowl and whisk well. Next, dip the flattened chicken into the seasoned flour, ensuring it is well coated, then into the egg mix and lastly into the breadcrumbs. Repeat this process with all four pieces of chicken.

To cook the chicken, add a good glug of olive oil to a frying pan on a medium heat. Just as the oil starts to really heat up, carefully add the coated chicken to the pan, ensuring it isn’t overcrowded (cook in batches if necessary). Cook for four minutes on either side until golden.

Meanwhile, boil a generously salted pot of water and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packaging, reserving the strained cooking water at the end.

While the pasta and chicken are cooking, shallow fry the garlic and chilli with a good splash of olive oil in a saucepan until the garlic turns golden, at which point add the cooked spaghetti to the pan. Using tongs, coat the pasta in the garlicy oil and then add the fresh parsley, a handful of finely grated parmesan and a ladleful of the reserved cooking water. Continue turning the spaghetti in this sauce for one minute to give it a glossy finish.

Season the pasta to taste and serve the breaded chicken alongside the spaghetti, offering up half a lemon each to squeeze over the whole dish. Extra parmesan and bread to mop up the plates is always a must in my house and restaurants alike!

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