Tobie Puttock’s recipe for chicken salad

Salad of Shredded Chicken, Apple, Walnuts, Basil Pesto and Pea Shoots Recipe

Serves: 2 as a starter

Ingredients:

1 chicken fillet (skin on), approx 220g

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 bay leaf

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Freshly cracked pepper

1/2 gala apple, washed

Around 12-15 freshly picked mint leaves, roughly torn

Small handful of walnuts, slightly crushed using your hands

Handful of pea shoots, roughly torn

1 celery heart stick washed and roughly sliced.

 

For the Pesto:

Teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

45g pine nuts

1 ? cups fresh basil, wiped with kitchen paper if dirty

2 small garlic cloves, peeled and halved

About 60g freshly grated Parmesan

5 tbs olive oil

Sea salt

Method:

1. Firstly pop the chicken into a bowl and add the lemon zest and juice along with the bay leaf and some freshly cracked pepper and finally drizzle the extra virgin olive oil over the chicken. Toss to combine, cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. To make the pesto sprinkle the pine nuts into a frying pan and dry toast over a medium heat, once they are golden in colour remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Place the pine nuts, basil and garlic into a food processor and use the pulse button to blitz, once the basil is chopped slowly add the oil until combined, finally add the parmesan and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to your taste.
3. Pre-heat a grill plate or BBQ, remove the chicken from the fridge, discard the bay leaf and grill over a high heat for about 2-3 minutes each side.
4. Once the chicken is cooked transfer to a chopping board and use a sharp knife to finely shred the chicken and place into a large mixing bowl.
5. Take the half apple and slice it half, remove the core using a knife and then slice each quarter into four lengthways so you have basically sliced the apple into 8 slices.
6. Add the basil pesto to the bowl with the chicken, add the torn mint leaves, pea shoots, sliced apple, celery, and walnuts and have a taste. Add a little olive oil and salt and pepper as needed and serve immediately.

Bon appetit!