Mr UF made a very tasty roast chicken on Sunday, sage and lemon, simple and delicious.

As usual we didn’t finish all of it (even a small chicken is to much for two, even when the two are such hearty eaters as us!). This means that a chicken on Sunday is really a wonderfully giving dish, the carcass is whistling away in the stock pot as I write with a couple of bay leaves, an onion and some whole peppercorns for stock, that just leaves the leftover chicken meat…

If you are more numerous in your house I’d always get a slightly bigger chicken than you need to ensure leftovers, highly economical and full of flavour.

Usually the leftover chicken meat would go in a risotto but this time I have knocked up a very easy pasta sauce using one of it’s favourite friends, the mushroom.

Ingredients

250g mushrooms (about 6 large white mushrooms or equivalent fancy ones)
100g leftover chicken (a decent couple of handfuls)
100ml creme fraiche (or cream if that’s your preference, but I love the sourside)
100ml white wine
250g penne
1 teaspoon thyme (dried is fine)
olive oil
S&P

Serves 2

1 Put on the pasta to boil
2 Chop the mushrooms and saute in a little olive oil
3 Once they are cooked, after about 3 minutes, sprinkle in the thyme, add the white wine and reduce by about half
4 Stir in the shredded chicken and heat through (you could also use diced fresh, in which case start with the chicken and then add the mushrooms etc once it is done)
5 Drain the pasta and add the mushroom and chicken mixture to it, stir in the creme fraiche/cream and serve immediately with either a green salad or a bit of baguette if you are after a real carb rush