This Creamy Roasted Chicken Tagliatelle with Butternut came as a result to my recent visit to Oudtshoorn.

Creamy Roasted Chicken Tagliatelle sounds fantastic.  I could picture myself face-planting into a big bowl full of this deliciousness after a hard and challenging day in the kitchen. Ok, you are confused, let me start at the beginning. I have been traveling quite a bit in the last month and I always try and find the eating hot spots in the towns that I visit. So driving up and down the streets of Oudtshoorn, things looked awfully quiet.

I turned to the trusted old Facebook and asked my  readers to point me in the right direction. So a few names jumped up, then I would turn the car around and drive suggested place only to see a dead-quiet empty restaurant. Somewhere around 6 pm, my tummy started to protest, so when I saw a restaurant with a tour bus in front of it, I stopped.  I was  greeted well, taken to my seat and then I asked the waitress what to eat. She mentioned their top seller is the Creamy Chicken and Butternut Pasta. After a very convincing chat, I was ready. After quite some time, the dish arrived, big plate of food, yeah! I was hungry.

I tucked in, the chicken was soft, too soft, almost no texture and the butternut cooked, also too soft. The tagliatelle on the side, mixed with some pesto. To add color to the otherwise beige plate of food, the chef added, chopped green, yellow and red peppers on top. Ok, so don’t ask me which restaurant this was. There was nothing wrong with the food, in Oudtshoorn it may be delicious, I just thought there is so much more to do with the dish.

So, here goes, my version of Creamy Roasted Chicken Tagliatelle with Butternut. Yes, we did face-plant into big bowls of this delicious pasta!

Creamy Roasted Chicken Tagliatelle with Butternut

serves 4

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts – I used de-boned with skin on

60 ml olive oil

30 – 40 ml Portuguese Spice – I use Robertsons, because it has a delicious lemon zing

2 cups cubed butternut

salt and pepper to taste

250 g/ ½packet tagliatelle – cooked according to packet instructions

250 ml cream

juice of ½ lemon

grated parmesan for serving

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Rub chicken breast with 30 ml of the olive oil, season with the spice and place on a baking sheet. Toss the cubed butternut in the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on the same baking sheet as the chicken or if you prefer, use another one. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and the skin is crispy on top. Cut the chicken into bite-size chunks.

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. In the meantime, heat the cream in a pan, add the butternut and chicken and stir through. Add the lemon juice. When the pasta is cooked, add to the chicken and butternut and toss. Serve immediately with freshly grated parmesan.