Spare Veges Chicken Casserole With Puy Lentils

LilKiwiChicken's Note:

My boyfriend & I first had Puy Lentils at a restaurant in Paris (L'Ambassade d'Auvergne) & thought they were fantastic. This recipe uses chicken, lentils & any leftover veges you have - we get a weekly organic box so on a Wednesday (the night before the delivery for the week) we have odd amounts of veges left that we don't want to waste. This is how this recipe came about. I used carrots, cabbage, mushrooms etc, but just use whatever you have on hand. If you don't have Puy Lentils, brown can be substituted. You can also reduce the garlic if 4 cloves sounds like a bit much!

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

For the lentils

• 175 g puy lentils , rinsed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 liter cold water
• 1 vegetable stock , cube crumbled

For the casserole

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 700 g chicken , bone in portions
• 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 1 large onion , roughly chopped
• 200 g bacon , chopped roughly
• 4 teaspoons dried thyme
• 3 cups assorted fresh vegetables , roughly chopped (see note above)
• salt & pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup of good quality vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 4 teaspoons flour
• 100 ml cream

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Place the lentils, bay leaf, water and crumbled stock cube in a saucepan. Heat until just boiling, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Whilst the lentils are cooking, heat 1T of the olive oil in a stove top to oven pan (like Le Creuset etc).
4. Brown the chicken & remove from the pan.
5. Saute the onions & garlic in the same pan until translucent. Remove from the pan.
6. Add the bacon (and the extra olive oil if necessary) and brown.
7. Return the chicken & onions/garlic to the pan & add the thyme, vegetables & lentils. Stir to combine.
8. Add salt & pepper to taste, along with the bay leaves and stock (because I have a Le Creuset pan I don't need as much stock, however you may wish to add a little bit more during cooking).
9. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
10. Make a paste with the flour & butter, and after 30 minutes whisk this through the casserole to thicken. Return to the oven and cook for another hour, or until the vegetables are just softened.
11. Stir through the cream, grind over extra black pepper if necessary, and serve.