Recipe: Poulet Basquaise

This is delicious with crusty bread, sauteed potatoes or a simple rice pilaf.

I like a lot of garlic, and paprika as well as the espelette pepper, the mild chilli grown in the French Basque Country, for a little smoke and ruddy colour.

This recipe makes two servings

Ingredients

• olive oil

• 1 onion, sliced into half-moons

• 1 tbsp diced cured ham (prosciutto)

• 4 fat garlic cloves, sliced

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 sprig of thyme

• 1 tsp piment d’espelette

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced

• 1 green pepper, deseeded and sliced

• 4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and

• 2 chopped, or 400g/14oz peeled plum tomatoes, squished in your hand into the pan

• a splash of white wine

• 2 chicken legs, cut in half, or 4 thighs

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• chopped parsley, to serve

Method 

1. Heat a good amount of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and diced ham with a pinch of salt and gently fry until the onion is soft with a little colour, then add the garlic and herbs. Fry for a few minutes longer over a low heat, then add the piment d’espelette and the paprika. Stir, cook the spice slowly in the fat, then add the peppers.

2. Give everything a good stir to coat the peppers in the fat. Continue to fry slowly until they begin to soften slightly, then add the tomatoes, the wine and salt. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 30–40 minutes, until the peppers have fully softened into the sauce. Taste for salt.

3. Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt, and brown in a separate pan. Pour off any excess fat (although a little of it will add flavour), then add the stewed vegetables. Cook for about 30 minutes, half covering the pan with a lid, until the chicken is cooked through. Add a little water if the sauce threatens to dry out. Adjust the seasoning, finish with chopped parsley and serve with your accompaniment of choice.

Extract credit: from ‘Frontières: The Food of France’s Borderlands’ by Alex Jackson (Pavilion Books).