Chicken Casserole

By special request, chicken casserole is an easy supper to produce for a family on a colder evening. This chicken casserole recipe is for my daughter who is gluten free. I sometimes cheat and use a packet powder that is reconsitited in water but if you have all these ingredients in stock, it is simple to make your own. You can use chicken thighs – I like to remove the skin, or chicken breasts if you don’t like meat on the bone. Learning to joint a chicken is also a good way to get 6 chicken pieces that you can cheaply put into this dish.

It’s definitely worth frying off the chicken first to get the full flavour and I also like to fry the veg for a couple of minutes to get them going before putting it in the oven. Serve with mashed potatoes and some broccoli if you want some extra veg.

Ingredients – serves 4

Packet of chicken thighs – at least 4, I remove the skins

2 leeks chopped

2 carrots peeled and chopped

Olive oil for browning the chicken

For the chicken casserole mix:

425ml cold water

1 teaspoon garlic granules

1 teaspoon italian seasoning/mixed herbs

1 tablespoon tomato puree

2 teaspoons flour – (gluten free if required)

Method

Put the oven on to heat at 160c. Place a casserole dish on the hob on a medium heat with a splash of olive oil. Pop the chicken pieces in and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken from the pan when it’s browned and put on a plate. Add the vegetable, stir well and leave to begin to soften.

In a jug, measure the water and add the casserole mix ingredients and mix as well as you can. Blending flour into cold water can leave it a bit particulate but as long as there are no big lump, it will cook down. When the veggies have softened, add back the chicken and the casserole mix, stir well and bring up to boiling point.

Place in the oven and clook for an hour at least and if you want to leave it a bit longer, you can but it will start to fall off the bone.

Peel and boil some potatoes whilst the casserole is cooking. Drain and mash with salt, pepper and milk and butter if you wish, to make some mashed potatoes.