Many people will be looking for something comforting to make during the rainy spring showers, and there is nothing more comforting than a classic British stew.
Jamie Oliver has a simple yet tasty spring-time chicken stew recipe which is easy to cook as all you need to do is chop up the ingredients, add them to a pan and allow them to simmer.
On his website, the legendary chef has said that this mouth-watering dish has “loads of lovely veg, bacon and barley” making it healthy as well as being absolutely delicious.
Jamie said: “Humble pearl barley – a brilliant store-cupboard staple – is a source of several essential vitamins and minerals, especially manganese, which we need for good bone health. ”
This hearty stew will take roughly an hour and 10 minutes to make as like all stews it needs time to allow the ingredients to marinate so they become tender.
READ MORE: Jamie Oliver’s ‘quick to make’ chicken curry recipe takes 15 minutes to prepare
Instructions
Pour one tablespoon of olive oil into a pan and place on a medium heat. Chop up the two rashers of bacon, strip the leaves from the rosemary and place them in the pan. Stir regularly until the ingredients are golden in colour.
While the bacon and rosemary are cooking, begin preparing the vegetables. Peel and chop the onions, carrots and potatoes and slice everything roughly the same size which should be around two centimetres.
Once cut up, add the onions, carrots and potatoes to the pan along with the pearl barely. Cook everything for 10 minutes until the vegetables and beginning to soften but not colour. Make sure to stir regularly.
Stir in one heaped tablespoon of plain flour, and then add the chicken stock and semi-skinned milk. Simmer for 10 minutes.
While the pan is simmering, cut the courgettes into quarters then cut the ends of the asparagus and green beans. Chop them all into two-centimetre chunks and also chop up the chicken.
Give the pan a good stir and add the chicken and courgettes into the pan, cover with a lid or sheet of wet greaseproof baking paper, and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes.
Add the asparagus and and green beans and cook for 20 more minutes until the sauce has thickened and the ingredients appear fully cooked through.
Stir in one tablespoon of mint sauce, season to taste and your tasty spring chicken stew is ready to serve.
