Spaghetti with Chicken, Cherry Tomatoes, Basil and Pine Nuts

Although I urge people to eat less starch, I don’t think a couple of pasta recipes (for good measure) would be overdoing it. A hint, use a vegetable peeler to shave parmesan cheese.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 500g “thin” spaghetti
• 500g chicken tenderloins, cut in half
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 cup basil leaves, shredded
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, roasted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• sea salt and pepper
• good quality Italian Parmesan cheese, shaved

Method

1. Put pine nuts in a non-stick frypan, fry them ‘dry’ on moderated heat. Shake the pan while frying them so that they don’t burn. They change colour very quickly, be careful. Leave them aside to cool. If you roast more pine nuts than you need, put them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge.
2. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water.
3. Heat a stir-fry pan, add oil and chicken, stir-fry.
4. When chicken starts turning a golden colour, add tomatoes and garlic. Cook until tomatoes are soft.
5. Add pine nuts to the chicken, season to taste.
6. Drained the cooked spaghetti, add to the chicken, tomatoes and pine nuts in the stir-fry pan. Toss through.
7. Toss shredded basil through, serve immediately, topped with shaved parmesan.