I’d never used tarragon before I made this dish but I can confirm it’s true what they say: tarragon and chicken is a match made in flavour heaven.

This recipe is fairly high up on the indulgence scale, but if you add peas like I did then it’s got one of your five a day – and think of all the protein in that chicken… Either way, not every day of the week has to be a health kick, so treat yourself, have a mid-week indulgence. It’s super quick and easy too, so that’s a bonus.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic, chopped into small pieces
• 1 chicken breast, diced, or 100g of diced chicken
• 5 sprigs of tarragon, chopped
• 100ml double cream
• 1/2 red chilli, grated or finely sliced
• 100g frozen peas
• 250g fresh or dried tagliatelle
• handful of rocket, to finish

Method

In about a tablespoon of olive oil, fry the chicken and garlic in a large frying pan until the chicken is golden brown (about 3 minutes on a medium heat).

Add about a 1/3 of the tarragon and toss almost continuously for 1 minute.

Stir in the cream and add the rest of the tarragon and the chilli. Simmer on a low heat for 5-6 minutes.

Boil the kettle and follow the instructions for the pasta (dried takes longer to cook than fresh).

Add the peas to the sauce and cook for a further 2 minutes. If the pasta isn’t quite cooked, remove the sauce from the heat and leave the peas to continue cooking in the heat of the sauce. Season to taste.

Plate up and scatter with rocket leaves. Enjoy!