Chicken Fillet with Celeriac Purée

Author: Jon Dart

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Looking for a quick and healthy supper to cook over the weekend? This chicken fillet with celeriac purée recipe ticks all the boxes. A crisp fried-ham wrapping and a creamy filling ensure these chicken fillets are nice and juicy. The spicy vegetable purée makes a perfect side dish. Thanks to Vitamix for this recipe which is taken from their Healthy Eating recipe book. Chicken Fillet with Celeriac Puree

Ingredients

For the purée:
  • salt
  • 1 celeriac (about 1.2 kg/2 ½ lbs)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • 50–60 ml (2 fl oz) milk
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • freshly grated nutmeg
For the chicken:
  • 150 g (5 oz) low-fat herb cream cheese (20% fat)
  • grated zest of ½ organic lemon
  • ½–1 tsp Aleppo pepper (chilli flakes)
  • salt & pepper
  • 4 chicken breast fillets (about 200 g/7 oz each)
  • 8 slices Parma ham (about 15 g/½ oz each)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Serves 4 Preparation: 30 minutes Per serving: approx. 550 kcal, 61 g protein, 30 g fat, 7 g carbohydrates Chicken Fillet with Celeriac Puree

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). To make the purée, bring plenty of salted water to the boil in a large saucepan. Peel the celeriac and cut it into chunks about 2 cm (¾ inch) wide. Put the celeriac into the boiling water together with the bay leaf and the lemon juice and cook for about 20 minutes until softened. Meanwhile prepare the chicken. Stir together the cream cheese, the lemon zest and the Aleppo pepper (fig. 1). Season with a little salt and pepper. Make a cut along the side of each chicken fillet to form a pocket (fig. 2). Fill the pockets with the cream cheese mixture and season with a little salt and pepper. Wrap 2 ham slices around each chicken fillet so that the pockets are well closed (fig. 3). Place the fillets onto a baking tray, drizzle with oil and cook in the centre of the oven for about 18 minutes. Meanwhile, drain the celeriac and discard the bay leaf. In a saucepan, heat the milk and the butter and season with salt and nutmeg. Place the milk mixture and the celeriac into the Vitamix container and close the lid. Select the Purée programme, start the machine and wait until the programmed cycle ends. Check the purée again for seasoning and serve with the stuffed chicken fillets. A green side salad or roasted cherry tomatoes are ideal accompaniments.