I think schnitzel is one of the foods people are least likely to make at home. Perhaps they consider it a little complex, or perhaps a bit of a hassle. Whatever is the case, people tend to buy schnitzel, or breaded chicken, frozen from the supermarket. The problem is, it’s not at all difficult to do and really takes very little time; even I was surprised at how simple this recipe turned out to be.

The secret to making good schnitzel is to pack in as much flavour as you can. You could make them using only breadcrumbs, however, let’s face it, chicken in itself is a little bland, so add plenty of herbs and seasoning. Also, try not to cook it for too long because if you do they’ll go a little tough and dry. To make these one can use chicken breasts, however I’d recommend the use of chicken steaks because they come flat enough to be used straight out of the pack. If you’re going to be using chicken breasts be sure to bash them a little flatter using either a rolling pin or a “meat basher”. One schnitzel per person will more than suffice and this recipe will cater for four. This meal will take around 40 minutes from start until plate.

Lemon and Herb Chicken Schnitzel {recipe]

Serves 4

Ingredients:

four chicken steaks, or breasts

100-150g wholemeal breadcrumbs, make by grating frozen bread

zest of a lemon, the juice of half of it

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp chili flakes

seasoning

plate of plain flour

1 large egg, whisked

oil for frying

400g tagliatelle

100ml single cream

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic

seasoning

Method:

Prepare your breadcrumb mixture by mixing together the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, oregano, chili flakes and plenty of seasoning. Whisk the egg in a bowl. Heat up some olive, or vegetable, oil in a frying pan. Cover each piece of chicken liberally in flour, dusting off any excess. Proceed to dip the floured chicken in the beaten egg, coating it completely. Coat the egg coated chicken in breadcrumbs and fry until browned on each side once the oil is hot. This should take 5 minutes maximum. Drizzle over some lemon juice and serve on a bed of onion, garlic and single cream tagliatelle. To make this, simply fry off the onions and garlic, throw in the cooked pasta and drizzle in a little cream. Serve 100g of pasta per person. This requires plenty of seasoning to really bring the flavour out.

Cost:

This meal, including the pasta, should cost around 85p. That’s a bit of a bargain really. If you don’t eat it all in one sitting you could also put it in wraps the next day. Scrumptious.