This is a simple chicken stew which I adapted from Nigella’s book Nigellissima. I often eat it with orzo, and sometimes make a little extra orzo and will then mix this in to the leftover stew. I’ll then pack it up to bring to work the next day for lunch where it just needs heating. Overnight the orzo soaks up a lot of the liquid in the stew and its just so plump and satisfying to eat the next day.

This chicken, roasted peppers and tomato stew definitely gives Italian vibes, it could be served with any form of pasta, but is also just as good with bread, rice or even mashed potatoes. Sometimes I also  add a little pesto on top to finish the dish which amps the flavour up to 11!

I love to pack vegetables in to a meal as much as possible, and so one of the deviations from Nigella’s original chicken, pepper and tomato stew is that I have added lots of frozen spinach and extra herbs. You could easily omit the spinach from the stew, but equally if you fancy adding other veg, it would totally work. This stew is great with some diced courgette added. I’d also be tempted to  serve greens on the side such as some steamed broccoli, or even just a green salad.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped

• 500g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped in to bite size pieces

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 2 tbsp marsala

• 1 can of chopped tomatoes

• 1 x 290g jar roasted red peppers, drained

• About 4 pucks of frozen spinach (or about 200g fresh, though only add it in towards end of cooking if using fresh)

• Small handful parsley, chopped

• Orzo to serve or pasta of your choice

• Olive oil

Method

1. In a deep sided pan, add about a tablespoon of olive oil on a medium to low heat and fry the onion for a few minutes. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute.

2. Add the chicken pieces and fry until it begins to brown.

3. Add the oregano and the marsala and let it bubble for a couple of minutes.

4. Add the chopped tomatoes and then fill the can half full with water and add to the pan.

5. Season with salt and pepper then let it gently simmer for about 10 minutes then add the frozen spinach in to the pan and stir. Stir from time to time and the spinach should thaw and break up so you can stir it through the stew. Let the stew simmer for another 10 minutes. The sauce should thicken by the end of the 20 minutes.

6. Drain the jar of peppers and cut in to bitesize pieces, or simply snip them straight in to the pan, as they are already cooked, they only need to warm through. Add half the parsley and stir.

7. Make the orzo or pasta according to packet instructions, or otherwise this is really nice simply served with some bread on the side.

8. When the orzo is ready and drained, simply plate up and top with the stew with a final sprinkling of parsley.

Note: This is nice topped with parmesan or even a drizzle of pesto, but it is by no means necessary.