Chicken and Chorizo Rice Bake

This one pot wonder gives loads of flavour for minimum effort and is guaranteed to wake up your taste buds. If you don’t have a suitable casserole dish just use a large sauté pan and then transfer to a roasting tin and cover loosely with foil. Make sure you buy the raw chorizo for this dish which will impart lots of flavour into the rice as it cooks.

Serves 4

Ingredients

300g (11oz) jar artichoke hearts preserved in olive oil

25g (1oz) butter

4 chicken breast fillets (skin on)

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

100g (4oz) raw chorizo sausage, peeled and sliced

350g (12oz) long grain rice

150ml (1/4 pint) dry white wine

600ml (1 pint) chicken stock

2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), Gas mark 4. Drain the oil from the jar of artichokes and add one tablespoon to a casserole dish with a lid. Add half of the butter and then place on the hob to heat. Season the chicken breasts, add to the dish, skin-side down, then cook for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Turn over and cook for another minute or so until sealed. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add another tablespoon of the drained artichoke oil to the dish with the remaining butter to the pan and then tip in onion and garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until softened but not coloured. Add the chorizo and rice and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring until the chorizo has begun to release its oil and all the rice grains are well coated.

Pour the wine into the pan, stirring to combine and then add the stock and fold in the artichokes. Arrange the chicken on top, pushing the breasts down into the rice. Cover and bake for 35-40 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the chicken and rice are cooked through and tender. Scatter over the parsley and place directly on the table to serve.