Creamy chicken, mushroom, leek and cavalo nero are cooked on the hob whilst the pumpkin gently roasts in the oven. Top with crumbly cheese for a meltingly good finish.
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized pumpkin
- 2-3 tbsp of rapeseed oil
- 500g chicken, boned or boneless
- 4 tbsp of flour
- Salt and pepper
- 400g mushrooms, finely chopped
- 3 leeks, finely chopped
- 1 red onion
- 180g cavolo nero
- 150ml double cream
- 150ml crème fraiche
- 50ml wine or cider
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 500ml of chicken stock (500ml of boiling water and 1 chicken stock cube)
- 100g Wensleydale cheese
- Handful of bay leaves
Recipe courtesy of Miranda Gore Browne.
Miranda is a food writer, home-baking expert, director of The Kitchen School and passionate foodie. She was also a finalist on the first series of The Great British Bake Off. Miranda has written two books, Biscuit and Bake Me a Cake as Fast as You Can, both published by Ebury Press.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, cut the top off the pumpkin and use a metal spoon to scrape out the seeds and stringy bits. Place on a metal baking tray and brush inside and out with some of the rapeseed oil. Put the lid on the tray and roast with the pumpkin in the oven for about 45 minutes.
- Whilst the pumpkin is in the oven, chop the red onion and cook in a large frying pan with a little oil, add the finely chopped leeks and a little water, and cook until softened. Lift out of the pan.
- Toss the chicken in the flour.
- In the same pan, put 1 tablespoon of oil, and brown the chicken pieces. Once they start to colour, add the chopped mushrooms and butter and cook until soft.
- Add the onions and leeks back to the pan with the chicken, and stir to combine.
- Add the wine or cider and this should deglaze the pan and loosen all the sticky bits.
- Pour in the chicken stock and pop in the sage leaves. Lower the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through (longer if using chicken with the bone in). After about 20 minutes add the chopped cavolo nero. Cook for a further 10 minutes, then lift out the chicken and, if necessary, strip the meat from the bone. Stir in the cream and crème fraiche, taste and season well with salt and pepper.
- Check the pumpkin is cooked, spoon in the chicken mixture, sprinkle the cheese on top and pop back into the oven or under a hot grill until the cheese is golden and melted on top.
