Chicken & Mushroom Ragù

Ingredients

• 1 kg bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
• 400 ml chicken stock
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 400 g chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 30 g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 250ml boiling water for 20 minutes
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• salt and black pepper
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• pappardelle and grated Parmesan, to serve
• Crusty ciabatta, to serve

Method

1. Drain the rehydrated porcini through a fine sieve, reserving the soaking liquid. Roughly chop the porcini and set aside. Pat the chicken thighs completely dry with kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no browning — then season generously all over with salt and pepper.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, wide casserole over a medium-high heat. Lay the thighs skin-side down in a single layer with space between them; don't crowd the pan or they'll steam instead of sear. Work in two batches if your pan is on the smaller side. Fry undisturbed for 7–8 minutes until the skin is deeply golden and crisp, then flip and brown the other side for 3 minutes. Lift out and set aside — leave those brown stuck bits in the pan, that's the flavour base for the whole ragù.
3. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered fat. Add the remaining olive oil and fry the diced onion and grated carrot over a medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and starting to catch gold at the edges. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds, just until fragrant — no more. Burnt garlic turns the whole sauce bitter, so watch it.
4. Turn the heat up and add the chestnut mushrooms and chopped porcini. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until they squeak, release their liquid, and finally take on a deep mahogany colour. Don't rush this — pale mushrooms taste of nothing.
5. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes until it darkens a shade and smells jammy rather than raw. Tip in the red lentils and stir to coat. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble hard for 2 minutes, scraping the fond up from the base with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken stock and the reserved porcini liquid, stopping just before any grit settles at the bottom — the stock and wine are what break the tomato purée down into proper sauce. Drop in the rosemary and bay.
6. Return the chicken thighs to the pan, nestling them into the sauce so the skin sits just above the surface. Bring to a gentle simmer, partially cover, and cook on a low heat for 40 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the chicken is falling from the bone and the sauce has thickened to a glossy, spoon-coating ragù.
7. Lift the chicken out, discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat back into the sauce. Fish out the rosemary stems and bay. Stir well, then taste, season, taste again — the lentils and mushrooms drink up salt, so it'll likely want another good pinch and a grind of pepper. Adjust now, not at the table.
8. Meanwhile, salt the pasta water generously — it should taste like the sea, and this is your only chance to season the pappardelle itself. Cook until just al dente, then drain, reserving a mug of pasta water. Toss the ribbons through enough ragù to coat, loosening with a splash of pasta water until each strand is glossy.
9. Pile into warm bowls, shower with grated Parmesan, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and scatter the torn basil over the top.