* Chicken and Butternut Casserole

Neil's been getting up a half hour earlier than usual, as he has further to travel to work for a while - and this means he's home a half hour later as well... and much as I love him - I'm not slaving over a hot stove at stupid o'clock in the evening, so's he can have his beloved Sausage, Egg n Chips - when I can prepare something ahead and have it ready to eat 10 minutes after he's walked in the door.

It always surprises me how much easier it is to choose what you're going to eat when there's less to choose from. My cupboards are bare until Wednesday when I can get to the supermarket in Plymouth, so I've no *tricky bits* but have plenty of the basics and bits to use up.

Sometimes the basics - with a little imagination - make a much better dinner. If I'm honest, it's me that likes food to be a bit different. Neil is more than happy to eat stews, casseroles, roasts and pies. "Proper Food" as he calls it. I much prefer pasta, rice and vegetable dishes - but occasionally, when I do cook something... ummmm... lets say "manly" - I often end up wondering why I don't do it more often.

It smells so GOOD!

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Serves 2

Prep time - 5 minutes

Cooking time - 50 minutes

You will need

A flame proof casserole with lid

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

2 skinless chicken breasts

250g butternut squash - peeled and chopped
350g new potatoes - halved

1 red onion - chopped

1 clove garlic

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp ground coriander

500ml chicken stock

100ml white wine

150g trimmed green beans

1 tsp cornflour

Salt

Pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 180c/160cfan/350f/gas 4

Heat the oil in the flame proof casserole, and brown the chicken until beginning to colour. Remove the chicken and set to one side. Add the squash, potatoes, onion, garlic, rosemary, ground coriander, chicken stock and wine - and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Return the chicken to the dish, making sure it's completely submerged. Pop the lid on and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked.

Remove the chicken from the casserole and keep warm. Place the casserole back on the stove, add the green beans and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Ladle about 100ml of cooking liquer out of the pan into a bowl and add the cornflour - mix to a paste then stir into the casserole to thicken the gravy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon the vegetables and gravy over the warm chicken. Serve with crusty home made bread and a HUGE glass of Pinot Grigio.