Chicken, squash & chickpea stew
PREP: 20 MINS COOK: 1 HR AND 10 MINS EASY SERVES 3-4
Top this family-friendly chicken and chickpea stew with a spicy harissa yogurt. For little ones, serve with plain yogurt
1tbsp olive oil
4-6 skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1-2 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and finely chopped
2tbsp tomato puree
2 bay leaves
400g butternut squash, cut into 3cm chunks
2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained
TO SERVE
4tbsp yogurt
2tsp harissa
Toasted flaked almonds Coriander leaves
1 Heat the oil in a shallow casserole dish with a lid over a medium-high heat. Nestle in the chicken skin-side down and fry for 8-10 mins until golden. Flip and fry for another 5 mins before removing to a pan.
2 Add the onion to the fat left in the pan and lower the heat to medium. Fry for 8 mins until soft, then stir in the garlic, rosemary, tomato puree and bay leaves. Cook for 2 mins then add 600ml water, scraping up bits stuck to the bottom of the pan and stirring back into the liquid.
Add the squash and chickpeas, then nestle the chicken in, skin-side up. Cover and cook for 40-45 mins until the chicken is cooked through and the squash is tender. Add a splash more water during cooking if needed, or remove the lid of the pan for the last 5-10 mins if there’s too much liquid.
3 Remove the chicken from the pan, and shred the meat, discarding the skin, or keep the thighs whole and just remove the skin for baby-led weaning (you can also blend the chickpea stew to serve as a puree to weaning babies).
Mash some of the chickpeas and squash into the sauce to thicken it, nestle the chicken back in the pan and serve it at the table.
4 Mix the yogurt, harissa and a pinch of salt in a small bowl, marbling them together. Serve alongside the stew with the toasted flaked almonds and a sprinkling of coriander.