This one-pan creamy chicken with mushrooms is an easy, mostly hands-off recipe that is perfect for a weeknight supper. The mushrooms give the dish a lovely deep umami flavour and the chicken braises in white wine, stock, and garlic until meltingly tender.

I wanted to make a chicken dish to pair with the spectacular Tokara Reserve Chardonnay This 100% Chardonnay with classic characteristics and fresh citrus notes stands up perfectly to the umami and creaminess of the dish. It’s easy enough to make for a weeknight supper but will also be a crowd-pleaser for a casual entertaining event.

I have made it on the stovetop in my Le Creuset 30cm buffet casserole dish with a lid, but any cast iron-lidded casserole or Dutch oven would work. You could also start it off in a non-stick frying pan and then finish it off in the oven in a dish of your choice or a small high-sided roasting pan.

Oven-roasted baby potato wedges with olive oil, thyme and salt accompanied this dish, but rice would work perfectly too. I cut them into wedges, scattered on a pan with a drizzle of Tokara olive oil, a few sprigs of thyme (or rosemary) and salt and roasted at 200C / 400F until golden brown.

Roasted new potatoes with olive oil & salt

Serve this chicken and mushroom dish with oven-roasted potato wedges with thyme.

Smashed roasted potatoes would also work well or fluffy basmati rice.

Recipe – serves 4

Prep Time:10

Cook Time:4

Ingredients

50 gms dried porcini mushrooms
3 Tbsp olive oil
8 Free-range chicken thighs or thighs and drumsticks
40 gms butter
1 small onion 2 shallots or half a large onion, finely chopped
1 large leek or 2 small leeks washed and sliced
1 tsp thyme leaves stripped from the stalk
3 cloves of garlic crushed
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
½ cup cream
250 gms Portobello mushrooms 1 punnet cut into quarters
40 gms butter
Small bunch parsley chopped to garnish
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

Cover the dried porcini mushrooms with 200ml boiling water and allow to soften for 20 minutes.
Heat the olive oil in a large casserole dish or non-stick frying pan and season the chicken pieces well with salt & pepper. Fry the pieces on both sides until golden brown. Remove and set aside on a plate.
Drain off some of the fat if necessary and add the butter, onions, leeks, and thyme. Sauté over a gentle heat until softened. Do not brown. Add the crushed garlic and cook briefly until aromatic. About 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and allow it to bubble for about 2 minutes before adding the chicken stock.
Drain the porcini mushrooms and chop them up. Add them to the dish with the soaking liquid and the cream. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the chicken and any juices back into the dish and cook over a gentle heat for about 20 – 25 minutes. Half with the lid on and half with the lid off. If you do not have a lidded casserole dish, you could start off the cooking in a non-stick frying pan and then transfer to an ovenproof dish and cover in foil and roast for 30 minutes and a further 10 minutes with the foil off.
A few minutes before the chicken is ready, sauté the quartered mushrooms in butter and stir them through the chicken. Scatter finely chopped parsley to serve.