Ascona is a little town on the banks of the Lago Maggiore, in the Italian part of Switzerland.

During my childhood we visited often, as my mum’s schoolfriend lived in nearby Ranzo and we sometimes went to Ascona for dinner and a visit to their summer Jazz festival.

Much later, Sam and I visited and had an unforgettable evening at Grotto Baldoria, a family-style restaurant with excellent tongue, self-serve salami and grappa, and bottomless pasta. It is definitely worth a visit.

In all my visits to Ascona, I don’t ever remember eating spaghetti (it was always pizza funghi for me), but after discovering this recipe in Marianne Kaltenbach’s Aus Schweizer Kuchen, I decided that I could imagine eating this lovely, light pasta dish out on the palazzo, under the summer stars.

The dish is simple—spaghetti topped with chicken in tomato sauce—but it’s easy to get wrong.

For me, it’s all about keeping the chicken tender. Nobody likes dry chicken, and so I velvet the chicken first. This technique is often used in Chinese cooking, especially in stir-fries, and I think it works well here to prevent dry meat. Of course soy sauce is not a traditional addition to the recipe, but the end result is tender chicken morsels with a slight hint of saltiness.

Kaltenbach calls her version Spaghetti del Luigi, presumably after the chef who made it, but it can also be found in Betty Bossi’s Schwiizer Chuchi  as Spaghetti d’Ascona.

For the chicken:

400-500 g chicken, sliced

50 ml water

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp vegetable oil

For the sauce:

olive oil

1 onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

100 g mushrooms

1 can tomatoes

100 g Rohschinken or prosciutto

salt and pepper

To serve:

400 g spaghetti

fresh oregano

grated Sbrinz or parmesan

Place your chicken in a medium bowl and cover with water and soy sauce. Let sit about five minutes.

Add the cornstarch and vegetable oil and mix well. Let sit for about 20 minutes.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat about 1 tbsp olive oil. Sear the chicken, about 3 minutes each side. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, over medium heat add a bit more olive oil, then the onion and cook for about five minutes, or until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more, then add the mushrooms. Cook until they are softened.

Add the tomatoes and cook for about 15 minutes, then stir in the Rohschinken or prosciutto. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package instructions.

Spoon the sauce over the spaghetti, and garnish with herbs and cheese.

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• I have used chicken breast in this recipe, but thighs, a package of Poulet-geschnetzeltes (the word geschnetzeltes simply refers to how the meat is cut, in strips), or even these mini chicken filets would work well. 

• Rohschinken is an air-dried ham. Similar meats can be substituted, such as prosciutto.