Quick breast of chicken with creamy bacon and pasta

Method

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add in the pasta and cook until al dente.

2. Drain the pasta of nearly all its cooking water, reserving around 150ml in the pan. Mix in the garlic, mascarpone cheese and cream. Add in the mozzarella and a squeeze of lemon juice, season with freshly ground pepper and grated nutmeg. Cover and keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan on the stove and lay streaky bacon rashers along the edge of the pan to cook, removing the bacon once it is cooked and keeping warm.

4. Place a chicken breast fillet between two strips of film and, using a cook's mallet or rolling pin, bat out the chicken until 1 cm thick. Remove the film and rub the chicken fillet with the uncrushed garlic clove half. Repeat with the remaining chicken fillets.

5. Brush the flattened fillets with a little olive oil, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and place on the hot griddle pan.

6. Turn the chicken over after 2-3 minutes and cook on the other side for a further 2-3 minutes until cooked through. Slice the griddled chicken into pieces.

7. Roughly chop the cooked bacon. Mix the bacon and chives into the pasta mixture. Taste to check the seasoning and adjust as required.

8. Place the pasta mixture in a warm serving bowl. Top with the sliced chicken, add a squeeze of lemon juice, drizzle with olive oil and serve.