Petits pois a la Francais with new potatoes and succulent morsels of chicken inspired this one pot supper. It’s blessedly undemanding to make but for the dish to work as it should, you will need free-range chicken thigh fillets, Jersey Royal or other new or waxy potatoes, diced pancetta and a large heavy-based, lidded frying pan. It’s served in shallow bowls, eaten with fork and spoon and looks very pretty with its parsley garnish.
Serves 2-3
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 45 min
125g onion
1 large garlic clove
1 tbsp olive oil
75g diced pancetta
450-500g free-range chicken thigh fillets
1 tbsp flour
¼ (quarter) chicken stock cube
200ml boiling water
400g large new/waxy potatoes
200g frozen petits pois
10g flat leaf parsley
Boil the kettle. Halve, peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Heat the oil in a spacious lidded frying/sauté pan over a medium heat. Stir in the pancetta, tossing around until the fat begins to run. Add onion and garlic, and fry, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes while you slice across the unfurled chicken fillets in 4 equal pieces. Dust with seasoned flour. Push the onion mix to the side of the pan, let the fat run back and brown the chicken. Scoop the onion mix back over the top and add the stock. Peel the potatoes, cut into large equal chunks, rinse and tuck amongst the chicken. Trickle over the peas, season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a steady simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Cook uncovered for a further 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender, liquid slightly reduced. Eat now or reheat later with chopped parsley garnish.