members recipes

Bellaverde® is Italian for “beautiful green” which describes the vibrant green hue of this long stemmed variety. It is also a true pure broccoli, rather than a cross with another vegetable, and therefore has all the health boosting superfood qualities of a traditional broccoli. It is high in Vitamin C, fibre and the B vitamin folate as well as being a source of potassium. www.bellaverde.co.uk

Ingredients
A glug of olive oil
8 fat, or 16 small chicken thighs
a knob of butter
2 onions, peeled and sliced
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp each of ground cinnamon, cumin and coriander
a walnut-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
3 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 (400g) can of chickpeas, drained
700ml good chicken stock
200g sweet stem, Bellaverde® broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces.
grated zest of 1 lemon
Season with salt and pepper to taste

Method
Preheat the oven to 180oC/Fan 160oC/350oF/Gas 4

Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish over a medium to high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown on both sides. Remove from the pot and set aside.

Dollop the butter and onions into the pot and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until soft. Sprinkle in all the spices, the ginger, garlic, a little salt, and a really good grind of pepper. Stir through and gently fry for a further 1 min, before adding the chickpeas and stock, and returning the chicken to the pot. Pop into the oven for an hour.

Meanwhile bring a pot of salted water to the boil, add the bellaverde® broccoli and simmer for 4 minutes, drain and set aside. Remove the pot of chicken from the oven and stir in the lemon zest and the cooked bellaverde® broccoli and heat through. Season to taste and serve with basmati rice and a dollop of yoghurt on the side.