Cooking: Chicken and cannellini beans

This is a recipe that I've cooked a couple of times this week, it's an easy to cook and tasty mid week dinner.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
150g pancetta or speck, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
4 chicken thighs
1 tbs flour
200ml white wine
300ml chicken stock
400g tin of cannellini, drained
2tbs double (thick) cream
olive oil
Salt and pepper
Parsley, chopped

Method:
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil on a medium / high heat. Add the pancetta or speck and cook for five or six minutes until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Reduce the heat of the pan slightly and soften the onion for five minutes. Once cooked, add to the bowl containing the pancetta / speck.

Put the flour on a plate, season and then dust the chicken thighs in the seasoned flour. Put a little bit more olive oil in the pan, increase the heat and add the chicken thighs. Brown them on both side for four to five minutes.

Once browned add the onions and pancetta back to the pan, quickly followed by your wine and stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for twenty minutes. Add the cannelini beans and cook for an additional ten minutes.

Just before the end, stir in the cream and season with some pepper. Serve on plates and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.


I really enjoyed this dish as a tasty mid week dinner. Tips from me:
- The speck / pancetta can make the dish quite salty. I didn't add any salt when seasoning the dish at the end.
- When I read the recipe I thought thirty minutes of poaching the chicken was quite a lot. The second time I tried the recipe I tried to cook the chicken for less time, but it just wasn't the same. Cook it for the full length of time!
- If you feel you need some greens to go with this dish, some grean beans go well on the side.