Chicken Cacciatore

Legend has it that the traditional version of this dish was made by the wives of Italian’s to greet them after a hard day’s hunting - cacciatore = ‘hunter’s style’.

In my house it is simply a wonderful and delicious dish to greet the entire family after a day of various activities.

The method and ingredients vary depending on different regions of Italy and mine veers towards Northern Italy with the use of white wine over red. I also invariably use smoked bacon when I don't have any pancetta in my fridge, and this works equally well. Recipes are invariably adaptable.

I use economic and flavourful chicken thighs and drumsticks here for a hearty dish, but you could just as easily use breast meat and rabbit is also often used in Italy.

You could serve with any rice, polenta or potato but I love this served on fresh tagliatelle - it's delicious, and the soft buttery ribbons soak up the sauce perfectly.

The below serves 3-4.

Chicken Cacciatore

Here’s how:

• 6-8 chicken pieces (I use thighs and drumsticks) 
• 1 large carrot 
• 3 cloves garlic 
• 5 spring onions 
• 2 rashers of smoked bacon, or 3 pancetta slices (you could also use cured ham such as Prosciutto) 
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes 
• 100g mushrooms 
• 1 large glass of white wine 
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary 
• Sea salt 
• Black pepper 
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• Handful fresh parsley 

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees (if you need to speed up the cooking process then 180).

Now drizzle the olive oil into a pan and place on a medium heat.

Generously season the chicken pieces all over and place into the hot pan to sear. Ideally you want them to be a little brown, turn them over to sear all round.

In the meantime finely slice the spring onions and garlic and place into a casserole dish.

Peel and finely dice the carrot and add to the dish.

Slice the mushrooms and set aside for now.

Also roughly chop the parsley and also set aside.

Once seared, add the chicken to the casserole dish.

Cut the bacon or pancetta into small squares and add to the chicken fat to cook for 3 minutes, turning once. Now add to the casserole dish.

Now add the chopped tomatoes, white wine and rosemary to the dish and stir well.

Give a final seasoning of black pepper, place the lid on top or cover with a tight foil lid and place into the oven for 1 hour and forty five minutes. Cooking at a low temperature for this long, yields really juicy, tender chicken that falls off the bone with a simple prod of the fork. As I mentioned, if you’re struggling for time, you can speed things up and turn the oven onto 180 degrees and cook in 45-50 minutes, but a longer approach gives a better, richer and more intensely sweet flavour.

For the final 15 minutes of cooking time, remove the dish from the pan, add the sliced mushrooms and stir well then return to the oven without the lid.

Serve the chicken cacciatore on top of fresh tagliatelle and throw over the parsley as a final flourish.

Chicken, Chorizo, Peppers and Lentil One Pot

This is a lovely, warming winter dish that will please all of the family, is economical and aside from a quick fifteen minutes of preparation, will cook nicely in the oven for an hour while you get on with other tasks.

This freezes really well too, so is great for batch cooking, which I'll be turning to a lot more in January in preparation for the arrival of our second little one.

I served with sweet mashed potato here, but it works well with rice, orzo or pasta too.

The below serves 3-4 people.

Chicken, Chorizo, Peppers and Lentil One Pot

Here's how:

• 6-8 chicken thighs or pieces (skin on)
• 1 pack cooking chorizo
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 3 tbsp red split lentils
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 jar passata
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 200ml chicken stock (I use a Knorr Chicken Stock Pot) 
• Black pepper to taste

Firstly place the oven on to pre-heat at around 170-180 degrees. And place a non-stick pan on the hob on a low heat.

Slice the peppers and place into a casserole dish.

Peel and slice the onion and mince the garlic and add to the dish.

Rinse the lentils well in a sieve and place into the casserole dish.

Now slice the chorizo sausages and add to the non-stick pan to sear on both sides. The chorizo will exude a lovely red tinged oil, once seared on both sides remove and add to the casserole dish.

Now cook the chicken thighs, skin-side-down first and completely brown off the skin until it's quite crisp, then turn over to brown the other side for 3-4 minutes.

Add to the casserole dish and add the stock, passata, tomato puree, paprika, cayenne and a good pinch of black pepper. You shouldn't need salt as the stock will have a salty tang, and the chorizo too.

Stir to ensure the chicken is covered and add a little more water if not. Place the lid on and place into the oven for an hour.

Allow to stand for a few minutes when you remove from the oven and serve with your choice of accompaniments. Enjoy!

TIP: If serving to small children or toddlers like Bridget, then shred one piece of chicken on a separate plate as soon as you take out of the oven and allow to stand for five minutes to cool down sufficiently as it will be piping hot.

Mexican Pepper and Chorizo Stew

This is a delicious, hearty and warming dish for colder nights that takes very little time to prepare and is light on the purse strings too – win, win.

You can make it slightly bulkier with the addition of chickpeas, butter beans or cannellini beans but I love it without.

I serve with some crusty bread, a dollop of homemade guacamole and a side salad but it would work well with rice or a jacket potato too.

It has a lovely smoky, chilli heat from the chipotle and the chorizo and you can dial this up with the addition of a red chilli as I have, or if you prefer something milder just omit this. I cook for about thirty minutes – however the longer you cook the more the flavours will intensify – so adjust according to how much time you have or how hungry you are.

Serves 3-4

Here’s how:

• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 red chilli
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• Handful cherry tomatoes
• 75g mushrooms
• 1 pack of cooking chorizo sausages
• 1 tin passata
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp chipotle paste
• Pinch salt and black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Few fresh coriander leaves

Firstly pop the oil into a strong bottomed, non-stick saucepan and place on a low heat.

Next peel and slice the onion, mince the garlic and slice the chilli and add to the pan to flavour the oil.

Slice the peppers and add to the pan once the onion has started to soften. Slice the mushrooms and place to one side.

Chop the chorizo sausages into small chunks and add to the pan to slowly cook. They will exude a gorgeous red oil that’s full of flavour and will continue to coat all of the ingredients in deliciousness.

Once the chorizo has taken on the colour of the oil all over, add the mushrooms and tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.

Finally place the passata, salt, pepper, chipotle and paprika into the dish and stir through.

Cook for approximately 30 minutes and this will be ready to serve. Once dished up, add the coriander leaves as a final flourish and additional flavour.

Baby Bites Vegetable Stock

Many recipes call for some liquid or a stock when cooking for baby, and whilst a lot of the time plain old water will suffice perfectly, often a stock will transform from bland to flavourful.

This is a simple salt-less stock method which costs very little and makes enough for a casserole, soup, risotto or any other dish you might need a pint or so of stock for.

• 1 large onion
• 2 carrots
• 2-4 celery sticks
• 1 bay leaf
• Pinch of black pepper

Roughly chop the onion, carrot and celery, there is no need to peel or remove the stalk of the onion.

Add to the pan with the bay leaf and pepper and cover with 1.5 pints water and place on a low heat.

Bring to the boil and then simmer slowly for 30-45 minutes. The stock should take on some of the colour of the vegetables by now.

Remove from the heat and allow to stand for five minutes.

Pour through a fine strainer over a large bowl or jug and leave standing over there for a few minutes.

Use a large spoon to press down onto the vegetables in the strainer to get out all of the flavoured stock.

This is now ready to use. If not using right away, allow to cool completely, cover and this will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Chicken and Chorizo One Pot

Aside from a little pre-frying and chopping the majority of the cooking for this is all done in one pot which is always a winner.

Most butchers and supermarkets sell thighs in a packet, sometimes along with drumsticks and they are usually more economical than breast meat – not to mention fattier, hence filled with far more flavour.

This is a warming, casserole packed full of flavour and is lovely on cold winter nights. I served it, this week, with some simple plain boiled rice and salad, but you could have it alone with fresh bread or with potatoes.

The chorizo gives a Spanish hue and with that end, I added a splash of Cava, purely as I had some in the fridge, but any dry white wine will do.

Serves 4:

Here’s how:      

8 chicken thighs or drumsticks

200g chorizo

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 courgette

Tin of cannellini beans

2 tbsp Cava or dry white wine

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp dried thyme

1 red chilli

½ cup of chicken stock

Salt and black pepper

2 tbsp hot paprika

Firstly slice the onion and chill and crush the garlic and add to a casserole dish. Chop the courgette into small cubes and add to the dish. Drain the beans and add to the dish with the chopped tomoates and the cava or wine.

Next chop the chorizo into small chunks, and add to a pan on a medium heat – no oil is needed here. While these are cooking, pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil onto a chopping board and season liberally with the salt and pepper. Then add 1 tbsp each of the dried thyme and the paprika and coat each of the chicken pieces in the oil.

Once the chorizo is seared, use a slotted spoon and add to the casserole dish.

In the same pan, sear the chicken pieces 2-3 at a time, ensuring to sear all over. Then add each piece to the casserole dish.

Finally add the ½ cup of stock to the dish and stir through to ensure each piece of chicken is covered with the liquid and stir through the remaining herbs and spices, salt and pepper.

Place the lid on top and cook for 45 minutes to an hour at 180 degrees. If you prefer a thicker consistency you can add a little cornflour in towards the end, but it is a lovely juicy consistency perfect with rice or bread. Enjoy!