Savoury Chicken Hot Pot

It's turned back to cold windy and wet again today. Please don't tell me that the brief respite we had last week was Indian summer, coz I just don't wanna know!



This is the perfect day for staying indoors where it is wet and dry . . . and warm.



The perfect day for feasting on comfort food.



Food like this delicious chicken stew, baked in the oven . . . in one tasty pot.



All you need on the side is a nice pot of buttery mashed potatoes and a nice pile of lightly herbed green beans.



*Savoury Chicken Hot Pot*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Chicken and autumn vegetables simmered together in one deliciously hearty pot!

1 TBS olive oil
plain flour, salt and pepper
1 kg of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, each one cut into four chunks
1 pound of butternut squash (Peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks)
4 leeks, washed trimmed and thickly sliced
hot chicken stock
two small handfuls of pearl barley
2 small bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp savoury crumbled

Heat the olive oil in a large stove top/oven proof casserole dish over medium heat. Toss the chicken bits with the flour and seasoning to taste. Brown them all over in the hot oil. Add the butternut squash and leeks. Cook and stir until the leeks begin to soften. Add hot chicken stock to barely cover and the pearl barley. Add the seasonings. Bring to the boil, then cover and cook for several hours in a moderate oven, (180*C/350*F/ gas mark4) until the chicken, vegetables and barley are tender and the liquid has deliciously thickened. (About an hour and a half.) Remove the bayleaves and serve hot spooned out onto heated plates along with some buttery mashed potatoes and a green vegetable on the side.