Chicken Fricasse with Butternut Squash Mash

This recipe is influenced by classic Spanish cuisine but it has a bit of a twist - and that is that the sauce is based with Greek or natural yoghurt to give it a rich taste and creamy consistency. The accompaniment to this dish is a bed of potato and vegetable mash which gives it an interesting colour, flavour and is somewhat different from the usual mashed potatoes. Also, the mash is much lighter calorie wise than a potato only mash.

Ingredients for the chicken & sauce

• 1 Onion
• 1 Green pepper
• 3 Cloves of garlic
• 400g Plum tomatoes (400g or 1 large tin of peeled plum tomatoes)
• 2 Large skinless chicken breasts (250g)
• 1 tsp Smoked paprika (pimenton)
• ½ tsp Dried oregano
• ½ tsp Dried basil
• 100g Button mushrooms
• 1tsp plain flour
• 75 g Greek yoghurt (approx 2 dollops)
• 2tbsp Olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

Ingredients for the mash

• 100g Parsnip
• 100g Butternut squash
• 100g Swede
• 150g Potato (1 medium size)
• 1tsp Olive oil

Serves 2 large portions. Approximately 585kcal per portion.

Cooking the Chicken 

Chop the onion and the pepper and gently fry with the oil in a large pan. Finely chop the garlic and add the onion and pepper. Gently fry until the onion has turned transparent. Peel the tomatoes and finely chop and add this to onion and pepper to make a base sauce. It should take about 5 minutes from this point for the sauce to be ready to add the chicken. I kept the chicken breasts whole for this recipe so they would be moist, but they could just as well be diced into bite size pieces.

Cover the chicken with the sauce so that all sides cook well. Slice the mushrooms and add to the sauce. Once the chicken is in the sauce and the outside is cooked, add the spices and herbs; paprika, oregano and basil, and continue cooking on a medium heat. The chicken should be fully cooked in 10 to 15 minutes or so, but this may vary. Once the chicken is almost ready, add 1tsp of flour to a small bowl with the Greek yoghurt and mis well. This is done so that the yoghurt doesn’t curdle or split the sauce. Add the mixture to the sauce and stir well. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer and keep cooking for another 5 or so minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.

Making the Mash

This works best if you have some diced swede, parsnip, or butternut squash in the fridge or freezer. If you don’t have one of these ingredients you can always substitute with the same amount of another. It is best to have them diced finely because it will take less time to cook. Place these in boiling water and bring to the boil. In the meantime peel and finely dice a medium potato and add to the boiling vegetables. Cook until they are all soft enough to mash. This should only take 15-2o minutes and can be done while the chicken is cooking. When they are ready, drain and place in a boil and mash. This takes a bit more effort than normal potato mash, as the vegetables have a tougher texture, but it shouldn’t be difficult. Add 1tsp of olive oil, season well with salt and pepper, and mix well.

Serve by placing a generous bed of the mash on a plate with the chicken and the sauce.