Tuscan chicken
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 6
- Dietary
- Egg-free
Based on a classic creamy chicken dish, Tuscan chicken is one of Mary Berry’s favourites when she needs an easy supper. It’s lovely served with potatoes, rice or pasta. It's very similar to 'Marry me chicken', but uses sun-blushed tomatoes, rather than sun dried.
Each serving provides 346 kcal, 21.5g protein, 8.3g carbohydrate (of which 4.8g sugars), 22.5g fat (of which 10.5g saturates), 2.4g fibre and 1.11g salt.
Ingredients
- 6 large skinless chicken thighs, bone in (see tip)
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 large red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp tomato purée
- 30g/1oz sun-blushed tomatoes, chopped
- 150ml/¼ pint white wine
- 150ml/¼ pint chicken stock
- 150ml/¼ pint pouring double cream
- 150g/5½oz baby spinach
- 55g/2oz Parmesan, grated
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Put the chicken in a bowl. Add the flour and the paprika and season well with salt and pepper. Toss together to coat the chicken.
Heat the oil in large, deep frying pan over a high heat. Add the chicken and fry for 3–4 minutes on each side, until browned and crisp. Set aside.
Add the onion and pepper to the unwashed pan and fry for 4–5 minutes over a medium heat, until soft (you may need to add a little extra oil). Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds.
Stir in the tomato purée, tomatoes, wine and stock. Bring to the boil then return the chicken to the pan along with any resting juices. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes, until tender.
Add the cream and spinach and stir until wilted. Remove from the heat, sprinkle in the Parmesan and serve piping hot.
Recipe tips
Sun-blushed tomatoes are sometimes sold as semi-dried tomatoes, slow roasted tomatoes or sun soaked tomatoes. They are sweeter and have a more gentle flavour then sun dried, but feel free to use what you prefer.
If you can only find smaller chicken thighs, you might want to add a few extra (they often come in packs of eight in supermarkets). Or use chicken breasts if you prefer.
Use any type of paprika in this dish (you will see sweet, hot and smoked varieties, plus variations in origin such as Hungarian and Spanish). Sweet paprika is Mary's preference in this recipe and that's often just labelled as paprika in the supermarket spice section.
Fresh baby spinach is best, but you can use frozen spinach if needed. Defrost it before using (you can do this quickly in the microwave) and squeeze out any excess moisture before adding to the recipe in step 5.
This dish freezes well.
To make a gluten-free Tuscan chicken, swap the plain flour for gluten free and use suitable chicken stock (some contain gluten). Serve with rice or potatoes.
