The household numbers just the two of us these days with the children all grown and living away from home.   So the days of cooking a roast Chicken and making sausage meat balls to make the chicken go further are long gone and replaced with the other end of the scale issue – leftovers!

I have made a chicken risotto, chicken soup – and chicken enchiladas with the leftovers before. Some time ago a young work colleague told me about his favourite thing to do with his leftover chicken and I thought I would give it a go. 

Ingredients

• 1 leftover roast chicken, stripped of meat (approx 300 grams)
• Olive oil
• 4 rashers of bacon, finely sliced
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 large carrots, sliced
• 2 potatoes, diced into 2 cm pieces
• Fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 200 grams button mushrooms, halved
• 1 heaped tablespoon flour
• Salt & pepper

Place the carcass in a large pot and break it up with a potato masher – cover with 1 litre of water, bring to the boil, then simmer for at least 30 minutes.

I used my Corning Ware casserole dish for the next stage of the cooking – I was given this as a wedding gift from my Uncle and Aunty in 1984 would you believe? It has been a great dish to own as you can cook with it on the stove top or in the oven – a super versatile dish which has been a well used over the years.  

Splash some olive oil in your pan, and add the bacon to cook for a few minutes. Add the onion, carrots, potatoes along with the fresh thyme and bay leaves. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Stir in the mushrooms, and chicken, along with the heaped tablespoon of flour.

Pour the stock through a sieve straight into the pan, and let simmer for 40 minutes, or until thickened. Season with salt & pepper to taste. 

I served the stew on a mash of sweet potato for a quick and simple dinner during the week – if I had more time I would have made old-fashioned dumplings and popped these on top of the stew in the last 20 minutes of cooking time for a change, with a side of green beans!

A glass of red wine and you are set for a heartwarming meal that really is delicious – and a lovely change from using the Leftover Roast Chicken in a risotto

Happy winter meals xx