6 crowd-pleasing one-pan dishes

• Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF.
• In a pestle and mortar (or you can use a food processor), put the almonds in and crush into rough crumbs.

  Add the (peeled) garlic, balsamic, capers, anchovies and a splash of their oil, then tear in the top leafy half of the parsley and bash until fairly fine.
• On a kitchen board, open the (skinless) chicken thighs out, smooth side down, and pound with a rolling pin until flattened and tenderized.

  Divide the stuffing between them and roll up, wrapping each thigh in a slice of prosciutto, then a slice of fatty, pancetta.

  Push two skewers through 5 thighs, repeat for the other thighs.
• Peel the potatoes and slice 1cm thick, then parboil in a large pan of boiling salted water for 6 mins or so.

  Prick each tomato with the tip of a sharp knife and add to the pan for the last 40 seconds, then drain it all. This is so you can easily take the skins off.

  When they are cool enough to touch, pinch the skins off.

  Layer the potatoes in a large ovenproof pan or baking dish, seasoning with sea salt and black pepper, and drizzling lightly with olive oil, then scatter over the tomatoes.

  Take your chicken skewers and place on top so that all the juices from the hams drip down over the potatoes as they cook.
• Roast for 30 mins, then dip the bunch of thyme in olive oil and use as a brush to baste the chicken and potatoes with the pan juices.

  Sprinkle the thyme sprigs over the dish and return to the oven for a final 10 mins.
• To serve, slice between the skewers, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

  P.S If you like your potatoes super-crisp, pop them back into the oven for an extra 10 mins at the end.

• Wrap your sausages with the bacon and pop into a non-stick casserole dish with a little oil.

  Cook until nice and brown all over – approx 6 mins.

  Once done, take out and set aside.
• Next, add the butter (and maybe a little extra oil) into the same casserole dish and then add in your sliced onions. Season with salt and pepper.

  Sweat the onions until nice and soft, then add the garlic and mushrooms. Keep stirring from time to time until the onions have become caramalised and brown (not burnt) – approx 15 mins.

  Now, stir in the flour. Add in a splash of red wine vinegar, stock and thyme, stir, pop your pigs in blankets back in, and leave on the stovetop gently for 20 mins.
• While this is cooks, melt some butter in a pan and brush lightly onto both sides of the bread slices. Then spread a little mustard on one side.

  Pop under the grill and toast each side. Then sprinkle grated cheese and pop back under until nice and melted.
• To serve, place the cheesy croutons into the casserole and watch your family devour!

For the chicken

• Poach the chicken by putting them a saucepan and cover with water.

  Add the garlic, 1/4 of an onion, and 2 teaspoons of salt to the water and bring to a simmer.

  Lower the heat a little and cook, uncovered for 10-15 mins.

  Remove chicken and let cool.

For the salsa verde

• You can do this while the chicken is cooking.

  Put the tomatillos and jalapeno's into a saucepan and cover them with water.

  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and until the tomatillos are cooked, and have changed color approx 5 mins.
• Now, place the tomatillos and jalapeno's into a blender.

  Add 1/4 cup chicken stock (or if you don't have any, use 1/4 cup of the tomatillo cooking liquid) to the blender plus 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup of chopped onion, 1/2 cup of chopped coriander and a teaspoon of salt and pepper.

  Purée until blended.

  Taste for heat and seasoning and add accordingly (*If not spicy enough add another chilli pepper or chilli flakes).

The chicken filling and building the enchilada

• Shred chicken with two forks in the bowl and mix with approx 1/2 cup of the salsa verde:

  Taste the chicken and add seasoning if necessary.
• Pre-heat the oven to 180C

  Heat the tortillas on both sides in a frying pan with a tablespoon of oil (you're not frying them just warming)

  Coat each tortilla in the salsa verde by dipping in the salsa verde (it can get a little messy) and stack them on a plate.

  Now, fill each tortilla with the chicken filling and roll.

  Place the rolled tortilla seam side down in a casserole dish and repeat with all of the tortillas.

  Cover with the remaining salsa verde, and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

  Top with coriander, chopped onion and sour cream.

For the chicken

• Pre-heat the oven to 200°C
• To prepare the chicken, spatchcock it first then, cut in half (see below for 'How to Spatchcock' or ask your butcher to do it)
• Add a little sprinkle of olive oil over it and sprinkle both sides of the chicken with a pinch of sea salt and ground pepper.
• Pop into a pan that is oven proof.
• Cook for 45 mins or until the juices are clear (*use a meat thermometer to help with the internal temp so it remains juicy), keep basting throughout.
• Rest for a few minutes before you cut the two halves into pieces for serving.

For the salsa verde

• On a board, crush your garlic with the side of your knife and then add your capers, anchovy fillets and a pinch of sea salt (and a little pepper) on top.

  Now, chop all these up together so you have a nice rough chopped mix.

  Add a little olive oil if it's too dry.
• Now, take all your herbs, chopped chilli, chopped green onion, place on top of this mix, add a squeeze of lemon and roughly chop it all up together, mix it up as you chop.

  NB: it doesn't need to be super finely chopped, it's a rustic sauce.
• Place in a bowl and add approx 1/2 cup olive oil with a pinch of salt and pepper and mix. It shouldn't be a dry, thick mix but also not too runny so make your judgement on how much oil.

  Taste and adjust to your preference.
• Serve on top of the roast chicken pieces.

Cooking the ribs

• In a roasting dish, add your ribs and /2 cup water (or enough to cover the bottom of the dish with water i.e. to create steam)

  Add in the chopped onion and bay leaf and cook on 100C for 3 hours to make tender

Glaze

• Once the ribs are nice and tender, take out while you make the glaze.
• In a bowl mix all the glaze ingredients and then using a spoon or brush, cover liberally both sides of the cooked ribs.
• Pop back into the oven, turn up to 180C and cook for approx 30 mins or until they look lovely and sticky.
• Serve with lots of napkins! And a fresh tomato salad.

Chilli

• In a frying pan, fry batches of the beef so it's cooked and has a little brown to it. It's important to do in batches otherwise you'll struggle to achieve this.

  Add each cooked batch to your casserole dish or slow cooker.
• Then simply add all the ingredients (except the beans) and give a good mix with a wooden spoon.

  Leave on a low heat on the stove for 4.5 – 5 hrs OR if in a slow cooker cook on high for 4 hrs or low of 8 hrs.
• 30 minutes before the end of your cooking, add in the beans and cook for another half an hour.
• This is ready to serve.

  To go with your chilli you can make the cornbread, below, or simply serve with some rice. I also like some sour cream in a bowl.

Cheese cornbread

• Turn the oven onto 200 °C / gas 7 / 428°F.

  Use some butter to line the loaf tin (approx a 900 g tin) and line with baking paper.
• In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients.

  Use a whisk to mix the eggs, milk and melted butter, then add these to the dry ingredients and mix together.

  Now add the grated cheddar cheese.

  NOTE: don't stress if it seems running, once in the oven the polenta will absorb a lot of the liquid.
• Simply pour this into the tin and cook for 15 mins.

  After this, turn the oven down a bit to 180 °C / gas 6 / 356°F then cook for another 25 minutes. Use the skewer technique if in doubt to see if it's done i.e. put the skewer into the middle of the loaf and pull out… if nothing sticks, it's done.
• Serve warm or cold.
• NOTE: lay tin foil over the loaf if you think it's getting too much colour but isn't quite done