Spanish Chicken Braise

This braise turns the humble chicken thigh into a sumptuous Spanish feast. Just the ticket for a rainy Sunday or a sunny Saturday evening in the garden. This dish is all about the savoury sauce – you’ll want to make sure you have loads of crusty bread to mop it up.

The chorizo, peppers and smoked paprika give this dish a real taste of Spain. You can build on these flavours using dried Spanish chillies such as guindilla and ñora instead of fresh – or try using fino sherry instead of wine or infusing saffron in the chicken stock.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C Gas 4
2. Sauté the chicken.  Heat a large sauté pan, or large heavy cast iron casserole to medium high heat, add a little olive oil and sauté the chicken skin-side down. Brown the meat on both sides. Put the cooked chicken in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Fry the mushrooms. Use the same pan adding olive oil as necessary. Stir the mushrooms for a minute then cover with a lid to sweat out the water, finally remove the lid and fry again to colour evenly, add the mushrooms to the chicken.
4. Fry the chorizo and vegetables. Put the chorizo in the pan and fry until it has browned and released its oil. Remove and add to the chicken. Fry the onion, peppers, chillies, garlic and bay for 10 – 15 minutes without browning. Add the paprika to taste and stir for a minute.
5. Deglaze and braise. Add the wine, stock or water to the vegetables, increase the heat if necessary to boil and reduce the liquid. Remove the skin from the tomatoes (plunge in boiling water for 10 seconds). Chop the tomatoes and add to the pan. Add the oregano, the remaining stock chicken, chorizo and mushrooms. Arrange the chicken skin-side up and heat until simmering. Place in the oven uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
6. Finish the braise. Season to taste with lemon, salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley.
7. Serve. This will go well with rice or potatoes and salad – and of course, loads of crusty bread.