So many names! - Poulet Basquaise, or Basque Chicken, or chicken with peppers and paprika

I really like this dish. It is rustic and tasty and makes me smile, and importantly, the children like it. Pretty crucial in this house! It's also easy and tastes even better the next day. I don't know if I inadvertently turned this into 'Vasco de Pollo' by my addition of chorizo (A great favourite in this house) but I think it worked well and gave another meaty dimension to this warming dish. Either way, whatever side of the border this happens to be, I should be calling it 'Euskal Oilaskoa' (Thanks Google Translate!!) to be faithful to that little fraction of me that is Basque and I should be recommending you try this, as it is pretty damn good.

The original recipe is from 'Trish's French Kitchen' by Trish Deseine, (I love her recipes, and her book 'Chocolate' is amongst my favourites, but that is a subject for another blog). Her recipe contains the spice piment d'espelette which is not the easiest thing to find around here, so I substituted smoked paprika. I am sure that whichever spice you use, this would be a welcome meal after a wander in the Pyrenees on a winter's day. Her recipe does not contain the chorizo. That is my addition.

One more note. I halved the recipe and below is the quantity I used. This was enough for 2 generously, plus Lola and Finn. I also used chicken breasts, instead of 'pieces'. Anything with a bone in would require longer cooking towards the latter stages of the recipe.

Poulet Basquaise, adapted from 'Trish's French Kitchen' by Trish Deseine.

1 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken breasts

150g chorizo (about half a ring) sliced
2 large onions, peeled and cut into quarters.
2 big cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped, or a decent pinch of dried thyme

400g tin tomatoes (I used my favourite cherry tomatoes. I think they have better flavour).
120ml dry white wine, or water. I used wine.
1 red and 1 green pepper, sliced
A handful of pitted olives (which could be omitted I suppose but we love them! I used green olives).

1 tsp piment d'Espelette, or smoked paprika, which is what I used.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put the olive oil into a suitable casserole dish and then brown the chicken pieces. Remove to a dish.

 and then add the chorizo. Fry until the chorizo releases its juices then add the onion. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic. Cook briefly until fragrant then add the tomatoes, wine, and green herbs.

Cover and simmer for about 40 mins, then add the peppers, the olives and the paprika, then cover and simmer for a further 20 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked. Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

On this occasion I served this with some probably not so authentic rice cooked with a chicken stock cube for my harshest critics. This is also good with some crusty bread.