Big-batch chicken, leek and bacon casserole

A creamy-tasting (but cream-free) casserole of chicken, smoky bacon, leeks and mushrooms in a thyme and mustard gravy. Eat half with new potatoes tonight and freeze the rest for a pie or a cosy night in.

Ingredients

• 1500 g Chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, cut into chunks
• 30 ml Vegetable oil
• 200 g Bacon lardons
• 3 Leeks, sliced
• 1 Onions, chopped
• 300 g Carrots, sliced
• 250 g Mushrooms, quartered
• 0.3 Garlic, crushed
• 40 g Plain flour
• 2 Chicken stock cubes, made up with 900ml hot water
• 2 g Dried thyme
• 0.5 g Bay leaves
• 15 g Dijon mustard
• 800 g New potatoes
• 300 g Broccoli, in florets

Method

1. Brown the chicken in the oil in your largest pan for 8 minutes, in batches, and set aside.
2. Add the lardons and fry for 5 minutes until golden.
3. Add the leeks, onion, carrots and mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes until soft, then stir in the garlic.
4. Stir in the flour for a minute, then gradually add the stock, stirring all the time. Add the thyme, bay and mustard and return the chicken.
5. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the chicken is tender and the gravy thick.
6. Meanwhile boil the potatoes for 15 minutes, adding the broccoli for the last 4.
7. Fish out the bay leaf. Spoon half the casserole into a wide dish to cool for the freezer and serve the rest with the potatoes and broccoli.