One-Pot Chicken & Bean Cacciatore

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
• 250 ml chicken stock
• 400 g cannellini beans, drained
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 400 g chopped tomatoes
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 125 ml red wine
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 75 g green olives
• 15g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Dressed rocket salad with shaved parmesan, to serve
• Crusty ciabatta, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large casserole or deep sauté pan over a medium-high heat — you want it shimmering before the chicken goes in.
2. Pat the chicken thighs dry and season generously with salt and black pepper. Water on the surface means steam, and steam means no browning.
3. Brown the thighs in two batches, 3 to 4 minutes each side, until deeply golden and releasing easily from the pan. Crowd the pan and they boil in their own juices instead of building the fond you'll deglaze later. Lift out to a plate.
4. Lower the heat slightly, add the onion and red pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes until softening and the onion is turning translucent at the edges.
5. Stir in the garlic, tomato puree and oregano, and cook for 30 seconds to a minute, just until fragrant and the puree has darkened a shade. Don't let the garlic catch — burnt garlic turns the whole pot bitter.
6. Pour in the red wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes, scraping up the sticky brown bits from the base of the pan — that's where the flavour lives.
7. Add the chopped tomatoes, chicken stock, cannellini beans, olives and sugar, and stir well. The stock breaks the tomatoes down as they simmer so they taste of fruit, not tin.
8. Return the chicken and any resting juices to the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 25 minutes, until the thighs are tender and cooked through.
9. Remove the lid and simmer for a further 5 to 10 minutes for a richer, glossier sauce — the wine and tomato should look unified, not watery.
10. Stir through most of the parsley. Taste, season, taste again — adjust now, not at the table. The olives bring salt of their own, so pepper may be all it needs.
11. Scatter the remaining parsley over the top and bring the pan straight to the table with the dressed rocket and parmesan salad and torn ciabatta alongside for mopping.