Chicken Casserole

less than 30 mins

30 mins to 1 hour

Serves 4

An easy chicken casserole recipe should be in every cook’s little black book – add your favourite vegetables, herbs or a splash of wine.

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 onions, 1 roughly chopped, 1 thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
• 6 whole peppercorns
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• water, to cover
• 55g/2oz butter
• 30g/1oz plain flour
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small head broccoli, cut into florets and blanched
• 1 x 225g/8oz tin water chestnuts, drained
• 1 free-range egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 2-3 tbsp double cream
• squeeze lemon juice
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, to serve
• boiled baby carrots, to serve

1. Place the chicken breasts, roughly chopped onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns and bay leaf into a large pan and add enough water to cover the ingredients.
2. Bring the mixture slowly to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until the chicken is completely cooked through.
3. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve 450ml/16fl oz of it. Set aside.
4. Heat half of the butter in a large separate pan and add the flour. Stir over a low heat until the mixture forms a smooth paste that leaves the sides and base of the pan cleanly. Gradually add the reserved cooking liquid, stirring well after each addition, to make a sauce. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5. Add the broccoli and water chestnuts to the sauce.
6. In a bowl, mix the egg yolk with the cream and slowly add this mixture to the sauce. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and stir to combine.
7. Cut the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and return to the sauce. Stir well.
8. In a separate pan, heat the remaining butter and fry the remaining thinly sliced onion until soft and golden-brown.
9. To serve, sprinkle the onion over the casserole, garnish with parsley and serve with the boiled baby carrots.