- 2 onion
- 2 carrot
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 boneless chicken legs
- 300g button mushrooms
- 2 chicken stock cube
- 300g pearl barley
- 400g asparagus
- A handful of wild garlic
- 2 lemon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 500ml boiling water
- Large, heavy-based pan or shallow casserole dish with lid
- Measuring jug
- 1.
Peel the onion and thinly slice it. Scrub and dice the carrot (no need to peel). Peel and thinly slice the garlic. Fill and boil your kettle.
- 2.
Pour 1 tbsp olive oil into a large, heavy-based pan or shallow casserole dish and warm to a high heat. Rub the chicken legs with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the hot pan, skin-side down, and fry for 2-3 mins on each side, till lightly coloured all over. Lift out of the pan onto a plate.
- 3.
Add another 1 tbsp olive oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Slide in the onion and carrot. Tip in the button mushrooms. Season. Fry for 5 mins, stirring occasionally, till golden brown. Add the garlic and fry, stirring, for another 1 min.
- 4.
While the veg cook, pour 500ml boiling water into a heatproof jug. Crumble in the stock cube and stir to dissolve it.
- 5.
Return the chicken to the pan. Stir in the pearl barley and pour in the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 mins.
- 6.
While the stew simmers, snap the ends off the asparagus spears (they’ll break at the right point when bent). Chop the spears into bite-sized chunks. Shred the wild garlic.
- 7.
After the stew has cooked for 30 mins, drop in the asparagus. Simmer for 5 mins without the lid on the pan (this helps keep the asparagus green).
- 8.
Stir the wild garlic into the stew. Grate in the lemon zest and stir in the juice from 1 half. Taste and add a little extra salt, pepper or lemon juice if needed. Ladle the stew into a couple of warm bowls and serve.