Chicken with Chestnuts and Mushrooms

You can almost smell the autumn bonfires in this quick-to-cook casserole. Try it with buttery mashed potato or spoon it over a pillowy mound of soft polenta.

Some wild mushrooms are lovely in this dish if you can get them. I used a mixture of portobello, chestnut and oyster mushrooms, with a dry Marsala in the sauce. That’s still quite sweet: if you’d like a touch more acidity use dry white wine or cider.

On the side, we had runner beans from the garden because, like courgettes, the dratted things just don’t know when they’ve outstayed their welcome. Otherwise, some wilted kale or other fresh greens would be good.

Chicken with Chestnuts and Mushrooms

Image of chicken with chestnuts and mushrooms

Ingredients:

Image of ingredients

Oops, forgot the chestnuts …

4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skinned

2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil

2 onions, peeled and chopped

2 sticks of celery, chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

200g mushrooms, quartered if large

1 tbsp butter

180g  vac-packed cooked chestnuts, halved

Sprig of thyme, leaves picked from stem

Image of chestnuts

… here they are

Bay leaf

Heaped tbsp plain flour

Large glass of dry Marsala or Madeira (or white wine)

250ml chicken stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped fresh parsley, to garnish.

Method:

Heat the oil in a deep pan or casserole and fry the chicken on a high heat until golden all over. Remove and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium and in the same pan, cook the onions and celery until soft and golden, adding the garlic for the last few minutes. In another pan, melt the butter and quickly fry the mushrooms until any water they release has evaporated. Add half to the onions and celery and set the rest aside.

Image of vegetables cooking

Sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture, stir it in and cook it off for a couple of minutes. Pour in the Marsala or Madeira and stir until the mixture thickens. Add the stock, chestnuts and herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, stirring, then put the chicken back in the pan and cook at a low simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. Halfway through, add the remaining mushrooms. At the end of the cooking time, check the seasoning and serve, sprinkled with a little chopped parsley.

Image of chicken with chestnuts and mushrooms, served

18 thoughts on “Chicken with Chestnuts and Mushrooms

  1. That looks and sounds fabulous. I love those vac packed chestnuts – always do ‘cook’s perks’ when I open a pack (i.e. eat several!).

  2. Every time I look there is something so enticing here – not only can I smell autumn here, too but also this autumnal casserole. Just on my way to get some Marsala for something else and here’s something to use more of the lovely stuff (sadly I am the only one here who likes chestnuts but they are easy to sort out for fussy people and I am working hard on the children to be in my camp ‘omnivore and liking it’…).
    Have a great weekend, always looking forward to your next post even now my spare time has decreased rapidly. n xxx

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