A warming winter dish with a garlicky pepper sauce that's equally good served cold.
I never get bored with chicken. It's so versatile and works brilliantly with cupboard staples such as capers and anchovies or that old wrinkled pepper that we all have lingering in the fridge. In this cold weather you can add heat by combining chilli, ginger and spring onion with the garlic. This dish is also great cold - served at room temperature, not straight from the fridge.
(Serves 4)
8 chicken thighs
3 tbsp olive oil
3 red romano peppers, sliced and deseeded
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 sprigs rosemary
200ml water
250g baby spinach
1 lemon, for zest
Trim any excess fat and season the chicken thighs. Put the oil in a large pan, add the chicken and colour on all sides. Remove the thighs, keep them somewhere warm, and add the sliced peppers to the pan. Add the rosemary and garlic and saute for three minutes.
Return the chicken, add the water and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes or until you have a nice thick pepper sauce.
Check that the chicken is cooked through, add the spinach and stir it in while it wilts so it is evenly distributed throughout.
As a final touch, grate some fresh lemon zest over the dish just before serving with warm potato salad or roasted new potatoes.
• Angela Hartnett is chef patron at Murano restaurant and consults at the Whitechapel Gallery and Dining Room, London. Twitter.com/angelahartnett
Angela Hartnett's chicken with peppers and spinach. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
