Poached Chicken and Asparagus Spaghetti

Another Friday arrives and again I am asked to cook a pasta dish. A trend is emerging....I knew I needed to visit the supermarket so I did a quick internet search for a low fat, easy pasta recipe using spaghetti and chicken. I settled on this one because I just happen to have many of the ingredients already, things I don't usually have handy.

Poached chicken & asparagus spaghetti

• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
• 1 leek, cut into quarters lengthways
• 1 lemon, cut into thin slices
• fresh continental parsley sprigs
• 3 chicken breast fillets
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 tbs chives
• 400g dried thin spaghetti pasta
• 1 bunch asparagus, halved diagonally
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
• Shaved parmesan, to serve

1. Combine the stock, wine, leek, lemon and parsley in a large frying pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes. Set aside for 30 minutes to develop the flavours. Remove the chicken to a clean work surface and coarsely shred.
2. Strain the poaching liquid through a fine sieve over a jug. Discard the leek, lemon and parsley. Return the liquid to the pan over high heat and bring to the boil. Boil for 25-30 minutes or until reduced to 80ml (1/3 cup). Cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the ricotta and chives. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan. Add the asparagus and peas in the last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain. Return to pan.
4. Add the chicken and ricotta mixture to the pasta and toss until well combined. Divide among serving bowls. Top with parmesan to serve.

I had to make a few small changes from the original recipe but I had high expectations because I would never normally put in such a lot of time to create a pasta dish. This was also the first time I have EVER used wine in cooking. Neither T or I drink wine but we happen to have a small collection of wine bottles in the house (they are all gifts which we are yet to re-gift). I decided to follow the recipe and include the wine, I was interested to see the results.

After all the time (+1 hour, rather than the 15mins I usually spend making pasta) and effort I was really unhappy with the final result. Alas, it was my own fault, I must have cooked too much pasta because there wasn't enough sauce to add sufficient flavour to the spaghetti. The chicken was also a little bit dry. Oh well.