Spanish style chicken casserole

Watching Rick Stein the other evening inspired me to create this dish while waiting for hubby to get home.

Spanish style chicken casserole

For 2-3 people

1 onion

1 pepper (whatever colour)

2 chicken breasts

a couple of small salami sausages or chorizo, if you have them

3 teaspoons paprika

a good wrist-flick of Porto

1 tin of tomatoes

a stock cube

loads of garlic (loads... - I left it whole)

some anchovy fillets

thyme, should you have some

a tin of white beans

Chop the onion into quarters and cook in a little oil in a heavy casserole dish. You’ll need to cook it for about 5 minutes. While this is cooking, chop the pepper into large chunks. Add this to the onion and chop the chicken into bite-sized chunks. When the pepper has cooked for a few minutes, add the chicken and salami or chorizo if you’re using it, and cook it for a few minutes with the vegetables.  Sprinkle in the paprika, stir and add the Porto.  Add the tomatoes, stock cube, whole garlic cloves, anchovy fillets and thyme. Reduce the heat down to very low and cook for about an hour. Drain the beans and add them to the casserole and heat it through. Season to taste – you shouldn’t need much salt thanks to the anchovies.

We ate this without any accompaniments, except a glass of red wine, but should you feel the need to supplement it, some crusty bread, mashed or boiled potatoes or rice would go down a treat with it.