Chicken & Kalamata Olive Casserole with Parmentier Potatoes

It’s currently snowing, it’s freezing outside and all I want to do is eat something heartwarming and relatively easy to put together. Cue my chicken and Kalamata olive casserole.

Not only does this recipe not use any hard-to-find ingredients – I bought everything from my local supermarket – it is a perfect dish to make for Valentine’s day.

Suggested Wine Pairing

Le Petit Mod’amour Rouge

INGREDIENTS

Casserole

4 Chicken thighs (skin on and bone-in)

80g Pork lardons

6 small shallots (cut into 4 pieces)

3 cloves garlic

12 cherry tomatoes

1 hand full of Kalamata olive (black olive will do too)

1 bunch thyme

3 dried chillies

6 tsp tomato purée

Olive oil

400ml chicken stock

Parmentier Potatoes

2 Large white potatoes (1.5cm cubed) – I use Maris Piper

1 bunch of Rosemary or Thyme

3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

Olive oil

METHOD – Chicken Casserole

1.

Marinade chicken thighs in garlic, thyme, dried chilli, olive oil, salt & pepper ideally over night but at least a couple of hours

2.

In a hot pan sear the chicken thighs skin-side down until they becomes nice and brown and crispy and then take out and place in a casserole dish

3.

In the same pan fry off the bacon lardons and the shallots for a couple of minutes and then place on top of the chicken in the dish

4.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and scatter over the chicken along with the Kalamata olives.

5.

Gently dollop the tomato purée around the chicken, add the chicken stock to the dish and pour over any remaining garlic/chilli/thyme from the marinade

6.

Place in a pre-heated fan assisted oven at 200C and cook for 45mins until the tomatoes have melted and you can’t stop licking your lips.

METHOD – Parmentier Potatoes

1.

In a hot pan add a glug of olive oil and fry the potatoes until golden brown and then place in small roasting tin

2.

Mix chopped garlic and thyme into the potatoes

3.

Crack some black peppercorns on them and then pop into the oven alongside the chicken for the last 20 minutes

4.

Season and serve. Enjoy.

A Clafoutis is a classical French dessert that is effectively a sweet toad in the hole with cherries instead of sausages. As it’s February and cherries are not quite in season yet (not even in Spain) I’ve gone for forced rhubarb from Yorkshire. It’s grown in a shed in almost complete darkness with only a small flickering candle for light. (Google it)

This early season indoor grown rhubarb is electric – it’s fluorescent pink and super tart so requires a little bit more sugar than you would typically use for a cherry clafoutis.

INGREDIENTS

Filling

350g Rhubarb cut into 2.5inch pieces (I used forced Yorksire rhubarb)

20g Butter plus extra for greasing

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Batter

150ml Whole milk

150ml Double cream

1/2 Lemon rind

12 Whole Green cardamom pods roughly chopped

75g Almond flour

5 Whole eggs

120g granulated sugar

Serve

As much whipped double cream or Crème Fraîche as you desire

METHOD

1.

Preheat oven to 180C fan-assisted oven

2.

in a saucepan gently heat the milk, cream, lemon rind and cardamom and then leave to cool and infuse and then strain

3.

in a frying pan add butter, rhubarb and the sugar and gently caramelise for a couple of minutes

4.

for the batter; beat the eggs until fluffy, add the sugar until it is blended in, fold in the flour then gently incorporate the milk mixture until a silky batter has formed

5.

grease an ovenproof dish and sprinkle in any remaining sugar and place the rhubarb in. Pour over the batter and bake for 45mins until golden

6.

serve warm with lots of cream or crème Fraîche and a glass of Axel Pauly Mosel Riesling

What is there not to like about beans? They’re cheap, they’re high in protein, carbs and fibre and they’re delicious. As a staple across many European cuisines they often get labelled as ‘peasant food’ (turns out I quite like peasant food) and this recipe is indeed one of the best. One caveat… in this case beans don’t mean Heinz…

INGREDIENTS

150g Mixed dried beans (anything goes)

or 2 tins of pre-cooked beans

150g Macaroni pasta

100g smoked pancetta or lardons (if using)

2 large onions diced

4 cloves of garlic finely diced

2 celery sticks diced

2 carrots diced

4 bay leaves

2 sprigs of thyme

1 dried chilli

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

olive oil to hand

as much or as little Parmesan cheese as you desire

handful of chopped parsley

METHOD

1.

Soak beans overnight or for at least 8 hours then cover with water by a couple of inches and cook on a medium heat for an hour. Top up pan with water if it gets too low. If using tinned beans then gently warm in a saucepan with an extra couple of tablespoons of water then continue the instructions as per step 7.

2.

In a casserole dish add olive oil and fry off the onion, celery, garlic, dried chilli, bay leaves, thyme and pancetta (if using).

3.

Once the ingredients have started to soften and gently brown add the carrot and the chopped tomatoes and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

4.

Once the beans have cooked drain them but make sure to reserve the beany cooking liquid.

5.

At this point you can choose to mash a couple of table spoons of the cooked beans with the cooking liquid to make a paste that will help thicken the ‘soup’. I have chosen not to as I prefer the consistency to be looser and not too saucy (see pic above).

6.

In a clean pan cook the macaroni as per the cooking instructions (usually 6 minutes).

7.

Combine the beans, macaroni and the sauce/soup and then sprinkle over a handful of chopped parsley and as much parmesan as you wish. Enjoy!

Mum’s love quiche – that’s a fact. So why not make your mum two different types of mini quiche? The first is a spring time leek, goats cheese and chive and the second a mediterranean-inspired tomato, roasted red pepper and chorizo.

It may seem like a bit of a faff making two different quiches at once but believe me it’s worth it. I also made the pastry (never a faff!) but of course pre-made short crust pastry works perfectly fine.

This recipe makes six 10cm diameter quiches (three of each) and can definitely be made a day in advanced. Best served room temp with a crunchy leafy salad dressed with a mustard vinaigrette or coleslaw.

INGREDIENTS

Pastry

200g plain flour – sifted

100g unsalted butter – cubed

1 pinch of salt

Leek Quiche filling

1/2 leek – sliced and sautéed in a bit of butter until golden brown

60g goats cheese – chopped

1/2 fist-full of chives – chopped

2 large eggs

40ml whole milk

80ml double cream

crack of salt and pepper

Pepper & Chorizo Quiche filling

50g chorizo – diced and sautéed until soft

60g roasted pepper – finely sliced (mine came from a jar)

2 sundried tomatoes – chopped

2 sprigs of thyme

2 Tablespoon tomato purée

1 pinch smoked paprika

2 large eggs

40ml whole milk

80ml double cream

crack of salt and pepper

METHOD – Pastry

1.

In a bowl sift your flour add the salt and rub in the butter until you have a soft breadcrumb texture. Add 2 teaspoons of cold water and bind the dough. Cover tightly with cling film or an alternative and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2.

Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to about the thickness of a £1 coin (if you can remember what they look like) then cut in to circles that measure 13cm in diameter (I used a small bowl) and then line the well buttered quiche tins with the pastry. Do NOT trim the pastry from the edge yet!!! Put them back in the fridge for another 30 minutes

3.

Preheat oven to 200C. Using tin foil line the pastry and then fill with ceramic baking beans or in my case dried kidney beans. Place on a baking tray and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove baking beans and foil then bake for a further 5 minutes. Using a sharp knife trim away the excess pastry that was folded over the tin.

4.

If you notice your pastry has cracked a little then dab on a little bit of beaten egg and bake for another minute or so.

METHOD – Quiche

1.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180C

2.

In three of your tins place the sautéed leek, goats cheese and chive over your pastry bases. Do the same with the sautéed chorizo, roasted red pepper, sundried tomatoes and thyme over the other three pastry bases.

3.

For the leek quiches combine the egg, milk, double cream and seasoning and gently pour over the filling until it reaches the brim.

4.

For the chorizo quiches combine the egg, milk, double cream, tomato purée, paprika and seasoning and pour over the filling until it reaches the brim.

5.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the filling is just set and allow to cool before serving. Enjoy!

If I were to have an Italian Grandma I reckon she would be proud of this little recipe. Although they way this has been put together may not be 100% traditional – I’m not Italian and it was delicious so… there you go.

INGREDIENTS

500g Minced pork

2 Brown onions (diced)

2 Celery sticks (diced)

4 Garlic cloves (roughly chopped)

50g Salted butter

1 Glug of Olive oil

4 Bay leaves

2 Tsp Fennel seeds

125ml White wine

200ml Chicken or Veg stock

125ml Double cream

500g Fresh Tagliatelle pasta

Parmesan Cheese

METHOD

1.

In a Sauce pan melt the butter and cook the fennel seeds allowing them to release their aroma then add the mince making sure to break it up so it cooks evenly. Before the mince has started to brown remove and set aside.

2.

In the same pan add the olive oil and bay leaves and gently fry the onion, celery and garlic until translucent.

3.

Add the white wine and simmer for 5 minutes.

4.

5.

Add the stock, cover with a lid and simmer on a low temperature for 15 minutes.

6.

Whilst this is cooking it’s time to cook the pasta following the instructions on the packet.

7.

Before the pasta has finished cooking remove the bay leaves from the mixture and add the cream

8.

Once cooked add the pasta to the ‘ragù’ and mix.

9.

Dish out the pasta and grate plenty of parmesan on top. Enjoy!