Ingredients

Serves 4

  • 8 chicken thighs, cut into large pieces
  • knob of butter
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 3-4 sage leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and diced
  • 3 tomatoes, seeds removed, roughly diced
  • 400-500ml chicken stock
  • salt and pepper
  • oil

For the gremolata

  • 1 lemon zested
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp. pine nuts, toasted and crushed
  • handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • pinch of salt

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C
  2. Heat a casserole pot over medium to high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Once the pot is hot, add a little oil and then add the chicken pieces. Let them brown on each side. Once they have browned, remove them and turn the heat down a little. Add a little butter, then add the onion, garlic, sage and bay leaf.
  3. Cook this for a few minutes to soften. Turn the heat up a little and add the squash let this cook for another few minutes (if you want more colour on the squash you can do this part in a separate hot pan).
  4. Add the tomatoes and return the chicken to the pot, pour in enough stock until it almost covers the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Place the lid on the pot and put it in the oven. Cook this for about 1 hour.
  5. Remove from the oven, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
  6. For the gremolata
  7. Mix the lemon zest, garlic, pine nuts and parsley together. Add a little salt and mix together. Leave this until needed.

To serve

  1. Spoon some of the casserole into a bowl, add a little gremolata on top of the chicken.