Rather special chicken and herb casserole

Rather special chicken and herb casserole An all-in-one dish that is really easy to cook and serve. Sage was often used as a dried herb in recipes but now it is readily available fresh and is simple to grow. It comes with either grey or purple leaves – they both taste the same.

Ingredients

• 250g/9oz dry-cured bacon, snipped into small pieces
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 8 chicken thighs, skin removed and bone in
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra if needed
• 30g/1oz plain flour
• 150ml/5fl oz chicken stock
• 150ml/5fl oz dry white wine
• 2 large thyme sprigs
• small bunch sage, 6 leaves reserved for garnish
• 2 bay leaves
• 200g/7oz small chestnut mushrooms, quartered
• 100g/3½oz full-fat crème fraîche
• knob of butter
• small bunch flatleaf parsley, chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Place the bacon in a large non-stick ovenproof frying pan or flameproof casserole and fry over a medium heat for a few minutes to render the fat. Add the onions and continue to fry until the bacon is brown at the edges. Transfer the bacon and onions to a plate using a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the oil in the unwashed pan, add the chicken and brown over a high heat, turning once. Transfer to the plate with the bacon and onions.

3. Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3.

4. Scatter the flour into the pan (adding a little more oil, if needed) and stir to combine. Gradually incorporate the stock, whisking, and allow to thicken. Pour in the wine and return the bacon, onions and chicken to the pan. Stir well, add the thyme, sage and bay leaves. The sauce will be quite thick at this stage. Bring to the boil, season well with salt and pepper and cover. Transfer to the oven for 30 minutes.

5. Remove the pan from the oven and add the mushrooms and crème fraîche. Stir well and return to the oven for a further 15–20 minutes, until the chicken is tender.

6. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the reserved sage leaves and fry until crisp. Remove the bay leaves, thyme and sage sprigs from the casserole and discard (some leaves will have fallen off to flavour the casserole). Stir in the parsley and serve with the crisp sage leaves on top.

Rather special chicken and herb casserole