This dish is all kinds of delicious, it’s not too heavy and the addition of the herbed chicken adds a lovely warming element. It’s really easy to make as well. If you own a spiraliser then making zucchini noodles, or zoodles, is fast and easy. If you don’t own one then just peel lengths of your zucchini and slice into fettucini shapes.

~Serves 2~

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp dried chilli
• 1 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tray chicken tenderloins

• 2 zucchini
• 1 large handful basil
• 2 -3 tbsp finely grated parmesan
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Pinch salt
• Pinch pepper
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp pinenuts

Method

Toast the pine nuts in a hot pan until golden, then set aside

Heat a frying pan to medium high heat, and add a tbsp olive oil. Add the fennel seeds, 2 garlic cloves, chilli and rosemary and cook for a minute until it starts to become fragrant, then tip in the chicken tenderloins. Move them around in the pan to coat in the spices then let them start to cook.

Meanwhile start on the pesto. Tear the basil leaves up roughly and put into the food processor along with the garlic, parmesan and a splash of water, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pulse a few times, scraping down the sides of the food processor occasionally. Start pouring in the olive oil until it becomes a runny consistency and the basil is finely shredded. Add in the pine nuts and pulse a few more times so they are roughly chopped up.

Turn the chicken in the pan (you might need to do this halfway through making the pesto as it starts to turn a nice deep golden colour).

Using whichever contraption you have, spiralise the zucchini into spaghetti strands, or if you don’t have a spiraliser you can peel it into thin ribbons with a normal peeler, stack them up and slice into spaghetti strands with a knife.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Turn the heat off the pan.

Put the zucchini noodles in the pan along with the pesto and stir through. You don’t need to cook the zoodles, but I like them to be just heated through and you can scrape up the rest of the spices from the pan into the noodles.

Serve the zoodles up and place the chicken on top. You can garnish with a few smaller basil leaves, a crack of pepper or a sprinkle of parmesan.

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