Slow-Cooked Chicken with Chorizo and Cider

Ingredients

Cooks in:1 hour (mostly unattended)        Serves:4-6

• 8 chicken thighs, with skin
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3 medium-sized red onions, cut roughly into sixths
• 1 chopped fresh chilli, de-seeded or 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1x 225g (or thereabouts) stick of chorizo, sliced
• 300ml cider (a bottle minus a sip or two for yourself)
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, for serving

For the Parmesan & Black Pepper Dumplings

• 100g self-raising flour (about 2/3 cup)
• 50g soft butter
• ½ cup grated parmesan or cheese of your choice
• 2-3 Tbsp natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• Generous pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper

What to do

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C. Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper and the thyme.

2. Heat a good quality (preferably oven-proof) pot on the stove, add the olive oil and butter and brown the chicken for about 3 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside.

3. Add the onions to the pan, fry for about 3 minutes, stirring often, and then add the garlic and chill and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add in the chorizo, cook for about 3-5 minutes.

4. Remove the pot from the stove, add the chicken back in on top of the onion and chorizo, pour in the cider, put the lid on the pot and place in the oven for 40 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, for the dumplings, mix together the flour and butter in a mixer or food processor until the texture resembles bread crumbs; add remaining ingredients and knead into a soft dough. If the dough is too wet add in a little more flour, it should not stick to your hands excessively. Roll palm-sized balls and place on top of the chicken mixture, bake without the lid for 6-10 minutes until puffy and golden.

6. Sprinkle with fresh parsley, serve onto warmed plates and enjoy.

Notes
Serve with creamy sweet potato mash or cous cous and minted peas.
The whole dish can be made a few hours in advance and re-heated under the grill just before serving.

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