John Torode’s Hearty chicken casserole with dumplings recipe

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You can't beat a good hearty chicken casserole in the cold winter months. John Torode has created a classic recipe complete with tasty dumplings

Serves6
SkillMedium
Preparation Time10 mins
Cooking Time40 mins
Total Time50 mins
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You can't beat a good hearty chicken casserole in the cold winter months. John Torode has created a classic recipe complete with tasty dumplings.

Ingredients

  • 6 chicken breasts, bone in, each cut into 3 pieces
  • 3 tbsp plain flour
  • 100ml vegetable oil
  • 350g button onions, peeled, or 4 medium onions, peeled and cut into 8
  • 200g smoked bacon
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 300g flat mushrooms, sliced
  • 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into hunks
  • 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly
  • 375ml red wine
  • 300ml chicken stock (page 20)
  • salt and pepper

Dumplings:

  • 150g suet
  • 350g self raising flour
  • 150ml warm water

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Method

  1. To make this chicken casserole, heat the oven to 200°C (gas 6). Put the flour in a plastic bag and season with lots of salt and pepper. Drop the chicken into the flour and shake like mad to coat well.
  2. In a large casserole, brown the chicken pieces over a high heat. Remove the chicken and reduce the heat.
  3. Add the onions and bacon and cook for 5 to 8 minutes until they are coloured and smell good. Add the garlic, then the mushies, carrots, potatoes, bay leaves and redcurrant jelly. Stir well.
  4. Put the chook back in and stir to coat well. Pour in the wine and stock. Cover and bring to the boil then transfer the pot to the oven for 40 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile for the dumplings, combine the suet, flour and a big pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Gradually stir in the warm water, mixing to give a heavy dough. Roll the mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball. Take the casserole from the oven, drop the dumplings into it and return to the oven for a final 20 minutes, until the dumplings are cooked.

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John Torode
John Torode
Australian-British celebrity chef and TV presenter

John Torode is one of the UK's most well known celebrity chef, having been a judge on popular television cooking shows, Masterchef, Celebrity Masterchef and Junior Masterchef for over ten years. Originally from Australia, John began his cooking career at 16 years old after leaving school to attend catering college. By 1991, he had moved to London where he soon began working at the famous restaurant, Le Pont de la Tour and Quaglinos as a sous chef and was where he met his fellow co-host Greg Wallace. John was shortly after approached by ITV This Morning in 1996 and continued the role til 2000. By 2005, Masterchef was relaunched on BBC with Torode and Wallace as the presenters and by 2011, the show was sold to over 25 countries. Alongside this, John has created 11 successful cook books and has had many of own series including John Torode's Australia, John Torode's Argentina, A cook abroad, John Torode's Malaysian Adventure, The Korean Food Tour and many more. At the heart of all Johns food is simplicity and family. He said his nanna's cooking was one of things inspired him to be a chef and even though the food she cooked was simple, it was always full of flavour and delicious. He best remembers her for her awesome cauliflower cheese, her caramel slice and apple tea cake. While we might not have the recipe for John's nanna's  recipes, we do have plenty of his recipes designed for indulgent but easy homecooking.