Planned-over Chicken – Gnocchi and Chicken Bake

Tags

Chicken, easily halved, feeds 8, make ahead, Quick, Spinach

 

This recipe was a discovery surfing then net, standing in the vegetable aisle of the supermarket. I was short on time and could only think of what I DIDN’T want to eat. We had a few extra dinner guests so these are the doubled up quantities, so this would be halved easily if you were only feeding four.

Ingredients
2tbsp Olive Oil
500g Chestnut Mushrooms , sliced
Salt and Pepper
60g Unsalted Butter
60g Plain Flour
750ml Milk
500ml Chicken Stock
1/2tsp Freshly Grated Nutmeg
1 Cooked Chicken’s worth of meat (see About Getting Ahead page)
1kg Gnocchi (usually found with the fresh pasta in the supermarket)
150g (ish) Baby Spinach
50g Freshly Grated Parmesan.

Preheat the oven to 220c / 200c fan / gas 8.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan or skillet and gently fry off the mushrooms, for 4 or 5 minutes then remove and set aside, wiping out the skillet.

Add the butter and melt, then add the flour. Stir together to form a paste and allow to cook for a few minutes. Then steadily add the milk, then the stock, stirring to keep it smooth. (Try adding the milk in small batches at the start to help avoid lumps) Simmer until thickened and it coats the back of a spoon, before adding the nutmeg and stirring through.

Add the chicken, mushrooms and gnocchi and stir until evenly distributed through the white sauce. Add the spinach and stir through as it wilts.

Cover the dish in grated parmesan and put in the hot oven for 20 minutes to allow the gnocchi to puff up and the top to become golden

30days Lemon Spiced Chicken

Tags

30days, Chicken, Cinnamon, Spinach

Day 16 – A Chicken Dish
Lemon Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas

Chicken is the most commonly eaten meat in the UK, and it’s still increasing. Often we do the same half dozen things to it, involving ready-made sauces. This is one of my go-to recipes. A handful of ingredients, and very quick, and every bit as flavourful as longer cooking recipes.

1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion , halved and thinly sliced
6 skinless, boneless chicken thigh fillets , cut into chunks
1 cinnamon stick , broken in half
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 lemon zest and juice (separated)
400g can chickpeas , drained
200ml chicken stock
250g bag spinach
Fry the onions gently in the hot oil for 5 minutes until softened. Increase the heat and add the chicken, frying on high until golden, around 3 minutes.

Add the lemon zest and spices, fry for a further minute then add the stock and chickpeas. Add a lid and bring to simmering point for at least 5 mins (although I have found you can happily simmer for 15-20 mins until the chickpeas are soft)

Check seasoning and add any salt / pepper if required, then add the spinach and cover again. Leave covered for 2-3 minutes until spinach is wilted, then serve adding a squeeze of lemon juice to each plate.

This recipe appeared in BBC Good Food magazine in February 2008