Chicken with Cannellini Beans, Tomatoes, Cream and Dijon Mustard
Chicken breasts work best for this recipe, though you can use thighs or legs instead. Cannellini beans are one of my favourite beans to cook with - a creamy canvas of flavour, the beans soaking up everything and all this recipe has to offer. This dish also freezes well
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 1kg whole skin-on chicken breasts, thighs, legs or drumsticks
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 30g butter
- 150ml dry white wine
- 200ml double cream
- 1½ tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 x 400g cans of cannellini or butter beans, drained and rinsed
- a big pinch of ground nutmeg
- 1 small bunch of tarragon, or use flat-leaf parsley or basil, leaves roughly chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a casserole pan over a moderate–high heat, add the chicken and brown all over for about five minutes each side, until coloured and beginning to cook through. Then, add the tomatoes and cook for five minutes more until the tomatoes are soft and collapsed. Stir in the garlic and the butter and cook for one minute, until fragrant.
Add the white wine and cook for five minutes, until the liquid in the pan has thickened, turning the chicken every now and then.
Add the cream, Dijon mustard, beans and nutmeg and stir to combine. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. When the mixture begins to bubble around the edges, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10–15 minutes, turning the chicken every now and then, until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through.
Check the seasoning, adding a touch more salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, then stir through the herbs. Serve immediately.
Recipe extracted from One Pan Chicken by Claire Thomson (Quadrille, £20), Photography © Sam Folan
