Georgina Hayden’s quick and easy recipe for creamy chicken and mustard fricassee | Quick and easy

A versatile, one-pan dish to which you can add pretty much whatever seasonal vegetables you like and whatever side suits, and all ready in about half an hour

This is a one-pan dinner at its finest: elegant and full of flavour, something that feels as if it has taken more effort and time than it actually has, and versatile in its finish – serve with creamy mash, fluffy rice, boiled potatoes; even hunks of fresh baguette would be wonderful for mopping up the creamy mustard sauce. I use whatever veg is in season: purple sprouting broccoli is at its best right now, but you could add stalks of rainbow chard, shredded cavolo nero, even halved baby carrots. Play around with whatever veg you have and love.

Creamy chicken, purple sprouting broccoli and mustard fricassée

If you can’t find mustard powder, feel free to use your mustard of choice – wholegrain would work well here.

Prep 5 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 4

4 skin-on chicken breasts (about 160g each)
Sea salt and black pepper
2 tsp English mustard powder
1 tbsp olive oil
200g purple sprouting broccoli
30g unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp aleppo pepper
2½ tbsp plain flour
125ml dry white wine
500ml chicken stock
200ml single cream

Put the chicken breasts on a deep plate and season generously. Add the mustard powder and olive oil, then massage them all over the chicken.

Put a wide casserole dish or large, deep frying pan on a medium-high heat and sear the chicken skin side down until it is deeply coloured. Fry on the underside for a few minutes, too. This should take five to eight minutes in total.

Meanwhile, trim off and discard the woody ends from the purple sprouting broccoli and halve or quarter any large, bushy stalks. When the chicken is browned all over, return it to the plate skin side up; it doesn’t need to be cooked through at this stage, just coloured.

Add the butter to the pan and turn down the heat to medium-low. Add the sliced garlic, dried oregano and most of the aleppo pepper, fry for a minute, then stir in the plain flour. Keep stirring until you have a biscuity-smelling paste, then stir in the white wine until the sauce is smooth and bubbling.

Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, then return the seared chicken skin side up to the pan. Cover and cook for eight minutes, then stir in the cream, nestle in the broccoli, cover and cook for a further six to eight minutes, or until the broccoli is tender and the chicken is cooked through. Scatter over the remaining aleppo pepper and a good grinding of black pepper, and serve with mashed potato or rice.