Chicken Paprika Casserole

As I mentioned in my previous post this is one of my favourite casseroles mainly, and this will be no surprise, because it's easy to throw together and uses ingredients that I almost always have in the house. If you have trouble finding the Tomato Frito (I have found it in the past near the tomato puree but have had less success more recently) then plain tomato passata is a perfectly good substitute. Any leftover passata freezes well or can be used in a bolognese sauce. The casserole also tastes just fine without the creme fraiche too.

Another plus is that this recipe always generates more sauce than needed which makes for a really nice pasta sauce the next day.

Finally, the method below instructs you to fry the ingredients in a pan before transferring to a casserole. This is purely because I don't possess a stove-top casserole dish (I will get my hands on a Le Creuset one day) but if you have one then the whole thing can be made in the one dish. Just transfer the chicken back to the dish when you add the peppers and garlic.

Chicken Paprika

(Adapted from a recipe found on Delia Smith's website - www.deliaonline.com)

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 chicken thighs (or a combination of thighs and drumsticks)

6oz/175g roasted red peppers from a jar

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 x 560g jar Heinz Tomato Frito

5 fl oz/150ml dry white wine

1 level dessertspoon hot paprika or 1 level tablespoon ground paprika

2 rounded tablespoons creme fraiche

salt and pepper

1) Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4. Heat the oil in a largeish saucepan or frying and fry on all sides until golden brown all over then transfer to a casserole dish.

2) Turn the heat down and add the onions to the pan and cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until softened and browned at the edges. Add the peppers, garlic to the pan then pour in the tomato sauce, the wine and the paprika. Stir together and bring to a simmer before transferring it to the casserole dish.

3) Cover the dish with a lid and cook in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the dish from the oven and swirl in the creme fraiche. Sprinkle with a little more paprika and serve straight from the casserole.

Serves 2