Spanish Chicken with Butter Beans, Chorizo and Tomatoes

This recipe comes from our former Executive Chef, Lucy Crabb, at the football club, and it's been served both at large banquets and in the restaurant to great acclaim. A rocket and chicory salad is a good accompaniment.

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  Serves 4

Ingredients
4 part-boned chicken breasts, skin on
8 oz (225 g) dried butter beans or judion beans, soaked overnight and drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 oz (175 g) chorizo sausage (raw chorizo, if available, is best for this)
14 oz (400 g) tin chopped plum tomatoes
a few sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion
2 medium carrots
1 medium leek
2 celery sticks
1 teaspoon sweet pimentón (smoked paprika)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
a good pinch of saffron stamens
10 fl oz (275 ml) hot vegetable or chicken stock
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly milled black pepper

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Equipment
You will also need a 6 pint (3.5 litre), lidded, flameproof casserole.

Method

First of all, begin by cooking the butter beans. Place the soaked and drained beans in a pan with the sprigs of thyme and 1 of the bay leaves and cover with water. Bring to simmering point and then cover with a lid and simmer the beans for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the beans are tender.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Begin by peeling the onion and carrots and finely chopping them. Next, take the tough green ends off the leek, then make a vertical split halfway down the centre and run it under cold water to rid it of any hidden grit. Then slice the leek in half lengthways and finely chop that too, followed by the celery sticks.

Next, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in the casserole and when the oil is hot, brown the chicken breasts on both sides until golden brown. Then transfer the chicken to a plate and now add the rest of the oil to the casserole. Stir in the onions, carrots, leek and celery and cook everything over a low heat, covered with a lid, to allow the vegetables to sweat in their own juices for 10-15 minutes or until they are beginning to soften.

While that is happening, you can prepare the chorizo sausage. Peel the skin off the chorizo and then cut into small dice before stirring it into the vegetables with the pimentón.Turn the heat up to medium and cook everything together for 2-3 minutes to start to draw the fat from the chorizo – you will need to stir constantly to keep everything on the move, to prevent the chorizo from sticking to the bottom of the casserole. Now add the cooked, drained beans (you can throw away the thyme and the bay leaf), garlic, tomatoes, the other bay leaf and the saffron, followed by the hot stock. Season with salt and freshly milled black pepper and give everything a good stir. Place the chicken breasts on top, bring the whole lot to simmering point, then reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes.

Finally, lift the chicken breasts out on to warmed plates, and stir the parsley into the sauce before spooning it over the chicken. Serve it with a chicory and rocket salad.

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