CHICKEN, LEMON & ROSEMARY CASSEROLE

This very easy casserole is a great supper dish and will sit happily on the hob until you are ready to eat, so there’s no need to worry about precise timings. In our cookery school we love to show students how to make a ‘soffritto’, a trio of finely cut vegetables which forms the base flavour of Italian foods such as ragu, soups and stews.

PER SERVING 9g carbs, 3.8g fibre, 31g protein, 14g fat, 300 kcal

Serves 6

6 x large skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs or 1 large chicken, jointed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons

100ml white wine

500ml hot water or chicken stock

For the soffritto

1 white onion, finely chopped

2 stalks of celery, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, finely chopped

1 long strip of lemon zest

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 sprigs of rosemary

3 medium bay leaves Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sautéed cavolo nero or spinach, to serve

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Fry them, skin- side down, in a wide, lidded, heavy- based pan or wide casserole until golden brown. The skin will release enough fat to fry them. Turn the pieces to the other side and brown again. It will take around 20 to 25 minutes to get a good colour on them. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside while you cook the soffritto.

Pour away most of the fat from the casserole, leaving around 4tbsp. Fry all the soffritto ingredients together over a low heat for around 15 minutes until they have softened and darkened in colour.

Return the chicken to the pan. Halve the lemons, squeeze the juice over the chicken and toss in the lemon halves. Stir well to combine then add the white wine and let it reduce for a couple of minutes until the strong smell of wine has dissipated. Add the hot water or stock and cook over a low heat with the lid on for about 1 hour or until the chicken is cooked through and tender, stirring occasionally. Serve with sautéed greens.