Slow-cooked chook with pea and parsley dumplings
Serves: 4
Prep time: 30 minutesTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Laura Edwards
Slow-cooked chook with pea and parsley dumplings
Hearty and comforting, this makes a wonderful Sunday lunch
Serves: 4
Prep time: 30 minutesTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
880Kcal
Fat
29gr
Saturates
13gr
Carbs
76gr
Sugars
8gr
Fibre
10gr
Protein
69gr
Salt
1.3gr
Allegra McEvedy
Classically trained chef and cookery author Allegra has headed up the kitchens of world-famous restaurants in England and the USA. She also co-founded healthy fast food chain Leon
See more of Allegra McEvedy’s recipes
Allegra McEvedy
Classically trained chef and cookery author Allegra has headed up the kitchens of world-famous restaurants in England and the USA. She also co-founded healthy fast food chain Leon
See more of Allegra McEvedy’s recipes
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 chicken (about 1.5-1.75kg)
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 small glass of white wine (about 120ml)
- 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
- 30g butter
- 5-6 medium-sized waxy potatoes (such as Charlotte), washed
- 1 large carrot, sliced into 4
- 4 echalion shallots, peeled and left whole
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 stalks of thyme, tied together with string
- 1 litre chicken stock
For the dumplings
- 100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 100g frozen peas, defrosted and crushed with the side of a knife
- 2-4 spring onions, sliced
- 50g shredded suet
- a large handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Step by step
How to make this in a slow cooker
You'll need a slow cooker with a capacity of at least 3.5 litres. Follow the recipe to the end of step-4; transfer to your slow cooker, add the veg, herbs and just 700ml stock. Season; cook on low for 4 hours. Then add the dumplings and cook on high for 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C, fan 130°C, gas mark 2.
- Put an ovenproof casserole over a high heat (it should hold the chicken fairly snugly), pour in the oil and as it gets searingly hot, season your chicken all over.
- Lay the chicken in the hot oil, breast-side down. Once dark golden, use tongs to turn the chicken to do the same on all sides: both the legs, then stand it on end – wishbone- down – and finally breasts up. Once golden all over, lift it out and put to one side.
- Spoon off most of the excess fat, then add the garlic and cook until golden, which won't take long. Then pour in the wine and while it's reducing, add the sherry vinegar and butter, then reduce the heat and lay the chicken back in there, breast-side up.
- Pack the potatoes, veg and herbs in and around the chicken (I often stuff the cavity of the bird with the whole shallots), then pour in the stock around the edges (not over the top of the chicken).
- Season the stock and veg, then cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours.
- Meanwhile make the dumplings: put everything in a mixing bowl with a heaped 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and some black pepper, give it a brief stir, then add about 3 tablespoons of cold water to bring it together. Split the dough into 4 and with lightly floured hands, roll 3 dumplings from each piece. (If they're not needed for a while, keep under a tea towel on the side.)
- When the chicken has had its 2 hours in the oven, carefully lift the pot out and take off the lid. Skim any fat from the surface then plop the dumplings into the stock, making sure that they are at least three-quarters submerged, then slip the lid on again and put back in the oven for 20 minutes.
- When the dumplings are ready, lift the chicken out. Season the broth then serve the chicken in warmed shallow bowls with the dumplings, braised veg and a couple of ladles of stock.
Chef quote
For me, this recipe has an air of yesterday. It is one of familiarity, old-school English food done well... and by that I mean with dumplings (pea and parsley, as all the best British meals involve peas). English comfort food at its finest: low effort, big reward
