Spring chicken stew
Loadsa lovely veg, bacon & barley
Spring chicken stew
Serves 4
Cooks In1 hour 10 minutes
DifficultyNot too tricky
Nutrition per serving
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Ingredients
- olive oil
- 2 rashers of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 2 onions
- 2 carrots
- 400 g new potatoes
- 100 g pearl barley
- 1 heaped tablespoon plain wholemeal flour
- 500 ml organic chicken stock
- 500 ml semi-skimmed milk
- 2 courgettes
- 1 bunch of asparagus , (350g)
- 200 g green beans
- 4 x 120 g free-range skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon mint sauce
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Method
- Put a large casserole pan on a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Finely slice and add 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, strip in the leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, and leave to get golden, stirring regularly.
- Meanwhile, start prepping your veg. The idea here is to chop everything roughly the same size – around 2cm – stirring each veg into the pan as you prep it. Peel, chop and add 2 onions, followed by 2 carrots, then 400g of new potatoes.
- Stir in 100g of pearl barley and cook everything for 10 minutes, or until starting to soften but not colour, stirring regularly.
- Stir in 1 heaped tablespoon of plain wholemeal flour, followed gradually by 500ml of chicken stock and 500ml of semi-skimmed milk.
- Simmer for 10 minutes, while you trim and quarter 2 courgettes lengthways, trim the woody ends off 1 bunch of asparagus (350g), trim just the stalk end off 200g of green beans, then chop it all into 2cm chunks. Chop 4 x 120g of chicken breast into 2cm chunks, too.
- Stir the chicken and courgettes into the pan, cover with a scrunched sheet of wet greaseproof paper, and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes.
- Give it a good stir, add the asparagus and beans, replace the paper and cook for a further 20 minutes, or until thickened and cooked through, stirring occasionally.
- Stir 1 tablespoon of mint sauce through the stew, taste, season to perfection, and serve.
