Smoky Chicken & Bean Stew

Ok, I admit it, I’m perhaps a little obsessed with chorizo. Honestly, not every meal I cook is based around this spicy little Spanish number, but it is really useful – it’s really tasty, adds great flavour to dishes, and goes well with other ingredients I seem to be using a lot right now, like chicken, red peppers, beans and tomatoes, all of which lend themselves to easy, one-pot stews like this.

I’m quite a new convert to chicken thighs. I was never this biggest fan of the dark meat from chicken, and convinced myself that breast meat was best, but thighs are great. They’re full of flavour, much more so than breast meat, and tend not to try out so much. And, they’re cheaper to boot.

You could maybe spice things up here by adding a finely chopped, de-seeded red chilli. As ever, chicken stock from good quality bouillon concentrate is fine.

Smoky Chicken & Bean Stew (serves 2)

• 1 red onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 red pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped into chunks
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, each cut into 3-4 strips
• 100g chorizo, sliced into coins and then each slice halved
• 4 tomatoes, de-seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 x 400g tin borlotti beans, rinsed and drained
• 300ml chicken stock
• 15g fresh coriander, roughly chopped (about half of a standard supermarket packet)

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan or suitable casserole dish, and throw in the onions and garlic. Cook for 3-5 minutes until softened, but not brown. Add the smoked paprika and red pepper, stir well and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the chorizo and chicken to the pan, and fry for 5 minutes, until the chicken is browned and the chorizo is releasing its fat.

Add the tomatoes and beans, and then pour over the chicken stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is completely cooked.

Scatter over the coriander. Serve with warmed pitta breads.  

BBQ Sausage One Pot

Now, it isn’t, you understand, that one needs an excuse to cook something warming and hearty, perhaps even wintery, even at the height of summer, but with it starting to get darker earlier and earlier, and having returned from a jaunt to the shops where I found myself face to face with Christmas decorations, this seemed particularly appropriate last night.

The BBQ refers to the slightly smoky flavour imparted by the bacon and paprika, and a small amount of dried chilli flakes adds a little, but enough, heat. I’ve said this serves two, but you could easily stretch this to four by adding the other two sausages from the packet (and see recipe), and serving over some creamy mashed potato. Delicious!

BBQ Sausage One Pot (serves 2 hungry or greedy people, and see above)

• 4 good quality, thick pork sausages (about 300g – 4 from a 454g pack of 6)
• 6 rashers smoked back bacon
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped into pieces, maybe 2 x 4 cm if you’re measuring (I didn’t have a fresh one so used a roasted one from a jar, which worked well)
• 1 400g can good chopped tomatoes
• 1 400g can borlotti beans
• 1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Cut each sausage into four pieces, and cut the bacon into 2cm strips, removing some of the fat if there is a lot. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, and fry the sausage chunks, bacon pieces and chopped onion for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is coloured, by which time the bacon should be cooked too. Throw in the chopped red pepper and fry for a further two minutes.

Drain the beans and rinse away the tinned-bean-gloop in a sieve, and add to the pan, then tip over the chopped tomatoes, and add a glug of water, maybe four tablespoons. Add the chilli flakes, smoked paprika and sugar, and stir well.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the sausages are cooked through. Ladle into two bowls and enjoy with some good bread.

Cheesy Baked Bean Pasties

Inspiration for cooking comes from many places, and I pick up ideas wherever I see them – some of the supermarkets give away a magazine, which although, somewhat obviously, are partially a nicely presented adverts, have some great ideas for meals. Made with pizza base mix rather than pastry, I guess this is a pasty-calzone hybrid type affair, but either way this is a delicious, easy lunch or supper, and is from a recipe in and old edition of ASDA magazine.

Cheesy Baked Bean Pasties (makes 4)

• 1 pack pizza base mix (290g) (this might be divided into two portions inside – use both)
• 1 400g tin baked beans
• 150g mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 3 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 50g Parmesan, grated

Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Make the dough as per the packet instructions, allowing the dough to prove as directed.

Empty the baked beans into a sieve and drain away most of the sauce. Transfer to a bowl, add the cheddar and sweet chilli sauce, and give it a good mix.

Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, and roll them into 15cm (6″) rounds. Spoon the baked bean mixture into the middle of the dough discs. Brush the edges of the dough with a little of the beaten egg, and then fold the dough over to make a semi-circle shaped parcel, pressing down the eggy edges to seal.

Place the parcels on a greased baking tray and allow them to rest for ten minutes. Then brush with the remaining egg, and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so before eating.