Cardamom Walnut Chicken with Charred Pear & Fennel Salad
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Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 20 mins
A gorgeous waltz of flavours. Charred pear and fennel tango with toasted walnuts and peppery watercress that’s a real showstopper. It’s the perfect partner for pan-fried high welfare chicken breasts.
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478 kcal
(per portion)
Ingredients you'll need
Recipe Ingredients Image
  • 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • A 35g bag of walnut halvets
  • 4 cardamom pods
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 fennel bulb
  • 3 pears
  • A 50g punnet of watercress
From your kitchen
  • 100ml water
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
You'll need
  • Food processor or blender (optional)
  • Cling film
  • Rolling pin
  • Dish
  • Large frying pan
  • Large bowl
Step by step this way
  • 1.

    Tip the charred veg into a large bowl. Add the watercress and the remaining pear purée. Toss together to mix.

  • 2.

    Tip the walnuts into the frying pan. Toast for 2-3 mins till they’ve browned a little. Serve the chicken with the salad, scattered with the toasted walnuts.

  • 3.

    Halve one of your pears. Scoop out the seeds from one of the halves. Peel it and pop the pear half in a food processor or blender with 100ml water (see our tip if you don’t have one). Crush 4 cardamom pods and shake in the black seeds. Finely grate in the lemon zest and squeeze in the juice from one half. Season and blitz to a purée.

  • 4.

    Lay the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of cling film and bash with a rolling pin a few times to flatten them. Prick them all over with a fork. Pop the chicken breasts in a dish and spoon over half the pear purée. Rub it into the chicken.

  • 5.

    Warm a large frying pan over a high heat for 2 mins. Add 1 tbsp oil. Put the chicken breasts in the pan. Fry for 2-3 mins on each side till browned and cooked through – the juices should run clear when you pierce them with a skewer. Transfer the chicken to a board, loosely cover with foil and leave to rest while you make the rest of the salad.

  • 6.

    Halve the fennel bulb and cut into 2 cm thick wedges. Peel and core the remaining 1½ pears. Slice them into similar sized wedges.

  • 7.

    Put the frying pan back on the heat and add 1 tsp oil. Add the fennel and pear wedges. Fry for around 10 mins, turning a few times till nicely golden and a little charred around the edges. You may need to do this in 2 batches if your pan isn’t big enough.

  • Tip

    No processor?
    In step 1, simply finely grate the peeled, deseeded pear half and stir it with the cardamom seeds, lemon zest and juice to make a rough mix.

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