Directions

Roasting The Chicken & Creating The Stock

1. Place chicken on an oven tray with the chopped vegetables of your choice. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper.

2. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the top of the chicken & vegetables for the first part of the cook (around 45 minutes at 180°C). Then remove the sheet and cook for another 25-30 minutes at 180°C.

3. Remove the chicken from the oven tray. Pour around 2 litres of water into the oven tray (with the vegetables still in) and scrape the pan to get all the bits off the bottom. Place the oven tray back in the oven for around 20 minutes (again at 180°C). This creates the stock!

4. Use a sieve above a large saucepan to separate the vegetables from the stock. Set the vegetables aside - they’ll be added later. Place the saucepan over a medium heat.

The Stew

1. Cut the meat away from the bones of the chicken. We prefer to separate the skin, so it can be roasted and added as a topping later on. You could pop the chicken skins in the oven now.

2. Dice the chicken into bite-size pieces and add them to the saucepan.

3. Roughly chop the vegetables and add these to the saucepan too.

4. Combine the chicken, vegetables and stock. Let it simmer whilst you prepare the dumplings.

The Dumplings

1. Add the Panda Flour to a mixing bowl with the fresh thyme - try to avoid adding the stalks.

2. Grate the lard into the mixing bowl. Try to do this quickly, so as not to warm the lard too much.

3. Use your hands to combine the flour with the lard, breaking up any larger clumps of lard that have formed.

4. Mix together the cold water and dijon mustard in a cup, then pour 100ml into a mixing bowl. Save the rest to add if needed.

5. Use your hands to mix everything together again. Add the parmesan and salt, and mix for a final time to create a crumb-like dough.

6. Take around 40g of the mixture and push it together between your palms to form a dumpling. Repeat for the rest of the mixture and place them on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper, or in the Ninja Grill on the grill tray. Bake at 200°C for around 8 minutes to create little baked dumpling rolls. They should be slightly golden.

To finish the stew

1. Add the double cream and stir through.

2. To add the xanthan gum, sprinkle it over the top of the stew. Stir it in and don’t panic when it starts to clump together! Give it a few minutes, stir again, and it will start to break down and thicken the stew. Adjust the amount of xanthan gum to your preference.

3. Add the bay leaves.

4. Add the baked dumplings to the top of the stew and cover the saucepan with a lid for a few minutes. Baking the dumplings should ensure that they don’t break down here.

5. When the dumplings have softened and the stew is to your preferred consistency, season with salt & pepper and serve! Here, we’d add the roasted chicken skin on top.

Optional extra:

1. Toast some Panda Rolls to have on the side!