Mary Berry’s “rather special” chicken and herb casserole recipe is a perfect pick for an easy yet scrumptious dinner.
Featured in her book Love to Cook, Mary Berry describes this mouth-watering dish as “an all-in-one dish to cook and serve”.
The preparation of this “simple” recipe is a breeze, taking less than 30 minutes to get it oven-ready for slow roasting, and you can have it on the table in about an hour.
It’s an excellent choice for a family meal that’s sure to be a hit with both children and adults, serving up to four to six people.
You can even prepare this dish up to a day in advance and it freezes beautifully, but just remember to stir in the creme fraiche and mushrooms when reheating.
Ingredients
Eight succulent chicken thighs
Two robust large onions
250g flavour-packed dry-cured bacon
200g earthy chestnut mushrooms
100g rich full-fat creme fraiche
30g versatile plain flour
150ml homemade or store-bought chicken stock
150ml crisp dry white wine
A handful of fresh thyme
A few leaves of fresh sage
A sprinkle of fresh parsley
Two aromatic bay leaves
Butter, for that perfect fry
Seasoning with salt and pepper
A dash of sunflower oil
Method
Begin by preheating your oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas Mark 3 before lining up your ingredients. Finely chop the onions, slice the mushrooms, and snip the parsley, then snip the bacon into bite-sized morsels.
Add the bacon to your frying pan or casserole dish and let it sizzle over medium heat on the hob. Give it a few minutes to crisp up and ooze out its fat, then toss in the onions.
Fry the onions and bacon together until they reach a delicious golden brown. With a slotted spoon, fish them out of the pan and pop them onto a plate to rest for a moment.
Begin by seasoning your chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper. Following this, add a tablespoon of sunflower oil to the same unwashed pan, place the chicken in it and cook on high heat.
Once the chicken has achieved a golden-brown hue on both sides, transfer it to the plate containing the bacon and onion.
Next, add the flour to the pan, incorporating more oil if needed. Mix everything before pouring in the hot chicken stock, stirring continuously to allow the gravy to thicken.
Now comes the white wine. Pour it into the pan and reintroduce the chicken, bacon and onion to the mixture.
Give it a good stir and throw in the herbs – thyme and bay leaves. Once the gravy sauce has thickened to your liking, bring it to a boil, season generously with salt and pepper, then slide it into the oven.
Allow the dish to bake in the oven for 30 minutes. After this time, remove the pan and incorporate the mushrooms and cream fraiche.
Stir everything together then return the pan to the oven for an additional 15 to 20 minutes until fully cooked.
While your chicken casserole is bubbling away, melt a knob of butter in a separate pan and toss in the sage leaves. Fry them until they reach a crispy texture.
Finally, when the dish is ready, extract all the herb leaves from the casserole and discard them. Stir in the parsley and garnish with the crisp sage leaves.
