Last year I published my old fajita recipe (without the Thermomix), the one that I had been cooking for a decade and a half, and then in recent months I changed it… But I only changed it because I can now do a bunch of things in the Thermomix and so I started experimenting a little. I haven't changed it massively and you can totally do this at home too without a Thermomix, either by hand or with your food processor or blender.
I know a few of you really liked the original and have been making it ever since but I encourage you to play with it. Ok, ok, so you have your parents and grandparents voice firmly stuck in your mind saying: "don't play with your food young man/lady!". Remember, that is only when the food is on the plate; when you are cooking it, it's a totally different matter!
A tip: I tend to squeeze the lemon into the measuring cup of the Thermomix, that way I can pick out any seeds with a spoon before pouring it into the TMX bowl. Do the same with a small cup. Have you ever bitten through a lemon seed by mistake? It really isn't a nice flavour.
Chicken Fajitas with the help of the Thermomix, food processor, blender or hand
Serves: 4-6 people
Time: 35-40 minutes
Ingredients
- 400 g chicken breasts cut in strips (or mini chicken fillets if you don't want to be slicing meat or need to get food on the table within 30 minutes)
- 1 red chilli, seeds in, cut in chunks (I used a large one last time and it was lovely, just go with your own spiciness resistance on this one though)
- Juice of half lemon, if you like lemon quite a bit, use a whole one (you can also use lime)
- A good handful of fresh coriander (it's important that it is fresh)
- Olive oil (about 1 tablespoon, probably less)
- 1 big onion or 2 medium onions, sliced
- 1 and a half red pepper, sliced (or pepper of the colour of your choice)
- 1 packet of tortilla wraps (the photos in this post use corn tortillas but wheat ones tend to wrap better
- 1 tub of soured cream (try to get half-fat to make the dish lighter)
- 1 tub of guacamole (I now make my own in the Thermomix but I haven't quite perfected it enough to share)
- Grated cheese, optional (we use cheddar most of the time)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200º (fan) / Gas mark 7.
2. Chop the red chilli in Thermomix bowl: 4 seconds, speed 5. Or in your blender or food processor or, of course, by hand (just be careful to wash yoru hands thoroughly afterwards)
3. Add the coriander and the lemon juice to the Thermomix bowl: 2 seconds, speed 7 or chop by other means. Have a quick peek to check that the chilli is small enough for your taste.
4. Drizzle, spray or brush a bit of olive oil over the bottom of the oven tray, add the chicken, pour the chilli, coriander and lemon mixture over it, mixing well. Then add the sliced vegetables (onion and red pepper) and mix well again, making sure it's all well coated.
5. Place in the middle of the preheated oven for 30 minutes. At the end of that time, give it a good stir and return to the oven turning the heat up to about 220º (fan) / to give it that sizzling slightly-burnt-without-tasting-burnt look. Make sure that the chicken is cooked through and remember that every oven is different.
WRAPS: Heat a dry frying pan over a medium heat and add 2 tortillas at a time, they only need a few seconds (30 or so) on each side. Don't get the heat too high as they will blister, burn and get hard. I tend to either cover them with a lid (you can cover them with an upside down plate) or leave some in the warm pan with the heat off while we eat.
The construction of the fajita is best done by each diner: place a tortilla on a plate, add the chicken, garnish with cheese, guacamole, soured cream, wrap it and fold the bottom to hold everything in. It gets messy but it's good fun.
Here you have a step-by-step photographic guide:
TIP: To save time, you can get the sliced chicken into the oven as soon as you have mixed it with the coriander, chilli and lemon and then start slicing the vegetables (onion and pepper) and then in they go with the chicken, mixing everything well, if you have all the vegetables sliced up just mix it all well with the chicken and into the oven.
HINT: You can increase the quantities to your heart's content, just make sure you increase amounts evenly across all ingredients so not to lose the flavour. This is a perfect dish for parties with family or friends as it is fun food and you are not chained to the hob, leaving you time to mingle from the time it goes in the oven until the timer beeps.
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