CHICKEN CASSEROLE WITH CHEESE SCONES TOPPING
chicken casserole is made with chorizo, mushrooms, garlic, leek, cherry tomatoes and topped with cheese scones to soak up the lovely juices of what lay beneath
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 1 hr 30 min
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
For the casserole:
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut in half
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
200 g cooking chorizo, broken into nuggets
24 button onions
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
150 g button mushrooms, stalks removed
150 g fresh or frozen baby carrots
1 leek, trimmed and cut into 2cm slices
400 g cherry tomatoes
4 bay leaves
bunch of fresh thyme, tied with string
500 ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp cornflou, dissolved in 2 tbsp cold water
For the scones:
110 ml buttermilk
1 egg
20 g sage, chopped
175 g self-raising flour
½ tsp cayenne pepper
50 g unsalted butter, diced
100 g mature cheddar
Method
For the casserole:
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Season the chicken pieces well with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof casserole over a medium heat and fry the chicken, in batches, until lightly browned all over then remove from the casserole.
Put the casserole back on the heat and fry the chorizo, then add the onions, garlic and celery. Cook for 4–5 minutes over a medium to high heat, stirring regularly, until lightly coloured. Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute more, stirring.
Return the chicken to the pot along with the carrots, leek, tomatoes, bay, thyme and stock. Season and bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
For the scones:
Meanwhile, make the topping. In a bowl, mix the buttermilk with the egg and sage. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and cayenne peppe. Stir in a good pinch of salt until everything is well mixed, then use your fingers to rub the butter in until its all crumbly.
Gently mix in the cheese, then gradually add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing firs with a knife then with your hands to make a soft dough. If it seems a little dry, add another ½ tablespoon of buttermilk, or enough to make a soft, smooth dough that will leave the bowl clean.
Roll out the dough as evenly as possible, to around 2.5cm thick – no less than this otherwise the scones won’t rise well. Using a 7cm fluted cutte, stamp out the scones. Gently re-roll the remaining dough and stamp out additional scones to use it all up.
Remove the casserole from the oven, check the seasoning then adjust the thickness of the sauce with the cornflour and wate. Now cover the top of the casserole with the scones.
Put the dish back into the hot oven and cook until the scones are golden brown and cooked through, this should take about 30 minutes.
