Pasta, Chicken & Courgette Salad

📝 Ingredients

• 320 g dried short pasta (fusilli or penne)
• 500 g chicken breast (about 3 fillets)
• 2 courgettes (about 250 g each)
• 3 tbsp olive oil (1 for the chicken, 2 for the dressing)
• 1 lemon (zest and juice)
• 1 garlic clove
• 60 g rocket
• 40 g Parmesan in one piece (for shavings)
• 15 g fresh basil (½ pack)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Large non-stick frying pan
• Fine grater
• Mixing bowl
• Peeler

📖 Steps

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the pasta for 1 minute less than the time on the packet: it should stay firm, as it softens as it cools. Drain, rinse under cold water for 30 seconds and shake well.
2. Wash the courgettes and cut them into 5 mm half-moons. Heat the frying pan over a medium-high heat without any fat and sear the courgettes in a single layer, in two batches if needed, for 3 minutes per side, until browned in places. Season with salt and set aside in the mixing bowl.
3. Cut the chicken breasts into 1 cm strips. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in the same pan over a medium-high heat and cook the strips for 6 to 7 minutes, turning them, until golden with no trace of pink in the middle. Season with salt and pepper and leave to cool slightly.
4. Make the dressing: finely grate the lemon zest (only the yellow part, as the white pith is bitter), then squeeze the juice. In a bowl, mix the zest, juice, grated garlic, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper, then whisk with a fork.
5. Add the cooled pasta and chicken to the mixing bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss carefully to coat every piece of pasta, then add the basil leaves, roughly torn by hand.
6. Just before serving, add the rocket and Parmesan shavings made with a vegetable peeler. In a lunchbox, put the rocket and Parmesan on top without mixing: stir just before eating so the rocket doesn't wilt.
7. Keep the salad for 3 days in the fridge in airtight containers. Take it out 10 minutes before eating: just cool, it has far more flavour than when ice-cold, and the olive oil becomes runny again.