Double Pepper Chicken with Chickpea Stew and Salsa

Today, we continue our little mini-series on Jamie's new book "7 Ways" with another fab dish... Perfectly juicy chicken with  a flavoursome red pepper and chickpea stew, red pepper and basil salsa and roast garlic.

This recipe really gets the best of the ingredients with tonnes of flavour in each element. The stew is hearty and rich with sweetness from the pepper and red onion, depth from the tomatoes and a touch of zing from the vinegar. The salsa also packs a punch with the kick of red onion and the fresh bursts of basil throughout.

Double Pepper Chicken with Chickpea Stew and Salsa

Serves 2

oil

3 red peppers, finely chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic

15g fresh basil

1½ tbsp red wine, sherry or cider vinegar

400g tin plum tomatoes

2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained

4 chicken breasts

thick balsamic vinegar (optional)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put half the chopped pepper in a large non-stick frying pan with a good glug of oil over a medium heat. Add three quarters of the chopped onion to the pan and season well with salt and pepper. Peel and finely chop two of the garlic cloves and add to the pan then cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

Meanwhile, for the salsa, mix the remaining chopped peppers and onion with ½ tbsp of the vinegar and ½ tbsp of good quality oil. Chop the fresh basil and add to the mix with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Add the rest of the vinegar to the pepper pan then pour it all into a blender/food processor with the tinned tomatoes and ½ tin of water (swirl it around so you pick up all the tomato from the tin). Blitz until smooth then pour back into the pan together with the drained chickpeas. Stir and simmer over a medium heat for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, score the chicken at the thick end in a criss-cross fashion and season with salt and pepper. Place in a large non-stick pan with a good drizzle of oil and the unpeeled garlic cloves over a medium-high heat. Cook for 5 minutes on each side, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the pan and wrap in tin foil to rest.

When the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze it out of the skin and roughly chop. Stir it through the chickpea stew and then divide between plate. Slice the chicken and arrange alongside together with the salsa. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic, if you like.