Pot-roasted Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce

• servings: SERVES 4
• active time: 95 minutes
• total time: 120 minutes

Ingredients

1 x 2kg/4½lb chicken, preferably organic

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

4 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, grated with skin left on

2 red peppers, halved and deseeded

2 yellow peppers, halved and deseeded

4 red onions; peeled

2 fresh chillies, snapped in half

1 ripe pineapple, peeled, quartered and chopped

1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed

olive oil

2 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Season your chicken generously inside and out and stuff the cavity with the mixed parsley and ginger. Cut your peppers and red onions into quarters and put them into a cold casserole pan. Add the chillies, pineapple and crushed fennel seeds. Drizzle with 3 good lugs of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss until well-coated. Place your chicken on top, pat it with a little oil and cook in the middle of the preheated oven for 1½ hours.

The chicken is ready when the bones can easily be pulled out of the thighs.

Once cooked, drain the chicken juices over the pan. Remove the chicken to a plate with half of the vegetables and pineapple, and allow to rest for 5 minutes while you make your sauce. Put the remaining vegetables and pineapple from the pan into a food processor with the sugar and balsamic vinegar, and correct the seasoning with a little salt. Blend to make a lovely sauce - add a little boiling water to loosen and thin out if need be. You could pass it through a coarse sieve to make it even smoother, but I don't. Season to taste.

To be honest, I can't think of anything better to serve the chicken with than some simple stir-fried noodles or some steamed or boiled rice. Just put the chicken and the veg in the middle of the table and tuck in.