An earthy, nutty chicken dish to die for
This chicken with porcini & chestnut mushrooms dish is great for a midweek meal or a tasty weekend supper.
PREP TIME: 10 mins
COOKING TIME: 45 mins – 1 hr
DIFFICULTY: easy
IDEAL FOR: one-pot meal, family, crowd-pleaser
BUDGET: £
WINE PAIRING TIP: Suzie (Michael Sutton’s Cellar) suggested two lovely reds to go with this dish.
The Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Cantina Danese is a smooth rich Italian and has hints of plum and sour cherries.
And the Three Thieves Pinot Noir California 2019, a medium-bodied Pinto Noir which is fruity with a silky texture… and I personally loved this one.
Chicken with porcini & chestnut mushrooms
If you like chicken and you like mushrooms?… then this sensational chicken & porcini mushroom dish is the recipe for you.
And the best thing is, you don’t have to wait for mushrooms to be in season.
As we’re using dried porcini mushrooms to give it that awesome unami flavour.
And chestnut mushrooms are grown throughout the year and give a lovely earthy note.
Mushroom forgaging
Back in the days of my Kiwi childhood, when I lived on a small 40 acre farm.
I used to love wandering around the fields, day dreaming and picking field mushrooms.
That was about the extent of my foraging.
Mainly because I hated mushrooms at that age.
I think along with things like olives, tea, coffee, chilli…
Mushrooms are one of those ingredients you ‘grow into’.
Over here in the UK the main mushroom season is Autumn (Sept – Nov).
When it’s cooler and wetter for fungi to flourish.
I haven’t done any real foraging over here yet.
It’s a bit of a mind-field of what’s edible and what’s poisonous?
And I’m not going to risk that without a proper bit of expert knowledge behind me.
If you want to do some foraging, then there are loads of sites with information on the many different species and courses.
Chestnut mushrooms
A chestnut mushroom is the same as a white button mushroom.
But is a strain that grows just a bit browner
They have better flavour and texture than the plain white mushrooms, a more earthy flavour.
And they’re great to cook with as they won’t shrink down too much like other mushrooms.
If the chestnut mushroom is left to grow larger, it becomes a portebello mushroom (I never knew that).
What are porcini mushrooms?
I have to admit I didn’t realise porcini mushrooms (Italian name).
Were the same as ceps (French name) and or the penny bun mushroom (English name).
They’re pretty expensive when fresh but stunningly delicious with their earthy, nutty, meaty flavour.
But luckily dried porcini tends to be better value.
Cooking with porcini mushrooms
If you’re wanting to add a hearty, woodsy flavour to your dish, porcini mushrooms are your key ingredient.
Dried porcini
Has a more of a concentrated, punchy flavour.
To use them, you soak them in warm water for 20 – 30 mins until they soften and expand.
Then drain them and you can keep the liquid to use in a risotto.
Fresh porcini
Have a meaty texture and nutty flavour.
The best way to have them is to simply sautée them.
But you can braise, fry, grill, or stew.
Porcini mushrooms are great to use in:
- Pasta
- Omelettes
- Sauces
- Beef Wellington
- Broths
Where to buy porcini mushrooms
You can pick up dried porcini in a lot of supermarkets.
But if not there, you’ll find them easily online.
Fresh porcini only come into a short season in autumn.
And sometimes again in the late spring.
Substitute
So, it’s not always easy to get these types of ingredients.
So, a back-up plan is shiitake mushrooms.
They have a meatier, less earthy flavour.
But cost less than porcini so that’s an added bonus.
Chicken with porcini & chestnut mushrooms
Once again, this lovely dish is all about the ingredients.
And I don’t mean lots of complicated ingredients.
It’s one of Jamie Oliver’s Italian inspired recipes.
So, as with all Italian recipes, it’s quality over quantity of ingredients.
The shining stars of this recipe are good quality chicken and mushrooms.
Let them do all the work.
And your family will be very happy.
Even the ones who say they don’t like mushroom.
(I never tell them what’s in a recipe until they give it the thumbs-up!)
And if you like this recipe…
Why not check out my other 7 Chicken-tastic recipe ideas.
Chicken with porcini and chestnut mushrooms
Ingredients
- 6 chicken legs
- 200 g smoked pancetta (the fattier the better)
- 4 small whole shallots, peeled
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
- 20 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 400 g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
- 200 ml dry white wine
- 4 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 200 g crème fraîche
- salt and pepper to season
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C.In a cup, put the dried porcini and pour hot water over to soak for 20mins.In a cold casserole dish, add 1 tbsp of oil and the pancetta and turn the hob onto medium-high heat. Cook until the fat renders out and the bacon is crispy. Take the pancetta out and place in a bowl, leaving the pan of fat on the heat.
- Now, add the chicken, and shallots. You want the chicken to become golden all over (you may need to do it in batches). Once done, remove everything to the bowl with the pancetta.Add the quartered chestnut mushrooms to the pan and then the garlic and cook until a little golden. Then add the wine and let it reduce by half.
- Add the diced potatoes and stir in then add the chicken, shallots and pancetta (with any juices from the bowl).Pour the porcini and it's water (try to avoid the last gritty dredge) into the pan and throw in some thyme.Pop into the oven for an hour or until cooked through, basting every 20mins. Approx 5mins before you are done, spoon in the creme fraiche and pop back in the oven for 5mins so the flavours can combine.Serve.
Notes
What’s your favourite chicken dish? Leave a comment.
I’m linking up to CookBlogShare
Leave a Comment
Wow – this looks and sounds amazing! LOVE porcini mushrooms!
Thanks Eb. I agree, porcini mushrooms are so deep in flavour 🙂
What a beautiful dish! I have so many mushroom fans in my family this will be perfect. Thank you for linking up to #cookblogshare
Thanks! The family were very happy with it 😉