Chicken legs with pesto, butter beans & kale

Pesto has only a few ingredients, but is packed with flavour, lifted by the addition of kale and lemon juice at the end. If you can’t get hold of skin-on chicken legs, use legs and thighs

SERVES 4 PREP 5 mins COOK 45 mins EASY

1 tbsp olive oil

4 skin-on chicken legs

2 x 400g cans butter beans, drained 4 tbsp good-quality pesto (or find a recipe on bbcgoodfood.com) 100ml white wine

180g kale, woody stalks removed ½ lemon, juiced

1 Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, season the chicken and add to the pan skin-side down. Brown for 7-10 mins until the skin is golden and crisp. Meanwhile, mix the butter beans with the pesto, wine and 100ml water. Flip the chicken legs over so the crispy side is facing up and pour the butter bean mix around them (be careful not to pour over the chicken so the skin remains crisp).

2 Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 20-30 mins until the liquid has reduced by about half and the chicken is cooked through. Remove the meat, set aside and cover with foil. Add the kale to the butter beans, along with the lemon juice, season and cook for 3-5 mins until wilted. Add a splash more water if it looks too dry. Split between four plates, top with the crispy chicken legs and crack over some black pepper and add an extra spoonful of pesto, if you like.

GOOD TO KNOW fibre • vit c • iron • 2 of 5-a-day PER SERVING 626 kcals • fat 34g • saturates 8g • carbs 17g • sugars 3g • fibre 11g • protein 53g • salt 0.7g