Bibliophile's Pepperoni sauce for chicken, fish and pasta

This is a flavourful sauce that I use for chicken, fish and pasta. This makes a meal for two.

1/2 onion, chopped
50-100 g mushrooms (less for chicken and fish, more for pasta), sliced
10-15 slices of pepperoni, quartered (from the smaller kind of pepperoni sausage. If you have the big slices where one is enough to top a slice of bread, halve the amount and cut into more pieces), OR equal amount of bacon (will be less flavourful)
1 tbs tomato purée
150 ml cream
garlic to taste
salt, if needed

200 g chicken (breasts or thigh meat) or white fish, cubed
1 cup of rice (or more if you simply love rice or need to make the meal bigger)
salt, pepper and your favourite chicken or fish spice blend
Additional for fish:
½ cup flour
cheese, grated or sliced

OR

enough pasta (farfalle or rotini) for two people

Heat oven to 180°C (170°C if you have a convection oven like I do). While the oven is heating up, cut the chicken or fish into bite-sized cubes and prepare the onions, mushrooms and pepperoni. If using fish, mix salt, pepper and spice blend with flour and roll the fish pieces in the flour. Brown chicken or fish pieces on all sides in a hot frying pan. Put into a deep oven-proof dish.
Put the mushrooms, onions and pepperoni in the pan and fry over medium-hight heat until the onions and mushrooms are soft. Add the tomato purée, garlic and cream and mix well. Taste the sauce to see if it needs salt. Pour the sauce into the oven-proof dish and if you're using fish, top with cheese. Put in the oven and cook fish for about 15 minutes, chicken 25-30 minutes. Cook the rice in salted water according to packet instructions while the pepperoni dish is in the oven.

Serve with rice and a fresh salad.

For pasta:
Start the pasta cooking and while it cooks, prepare the sauce according to instructions, letting it boil down a bit in the pan to thicken before serving over hot pasta.

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