Take One Rainy Day.......

The rain comes and I suddenly feel the need to buy those less expensive cuts of meat and braise away until my heart's content. Well, that's how I felt last week and with my creative juices in overdrive I stumbled across an absolute winner; my pesto, parmesan and sun dried tomato chicken dumplings in a gorgeous slow cooked tomato sauce.

What you will need...................

1 rainy day
1kg chicken mince
2 brown onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons basil pesto
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
2 cups fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
4 eggs
Salt and pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and kneed until combined.
2. Roll into balls the size of a walnut and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
3. Bake for 15mins in a moderate oven.
4. Place the dumplings and juices from the baking dish into the tomato sauce and gently cook for 30mins.
5. Serve on penne pasta, cheesy polenta or potato mash.

For the sauce.....................

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 brown onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 440g tins of crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
1 tablespoon mixed dry herbs
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

1. Heat oil in a heavy based pan.
2. Saute the onion, garlic and herbs until softened.
3. Add the tomato, water, salt and sugar and gently cook for 30mins.
   

Climb into bed with a bowl of steaming chicken dumplings, a glass of your favourite wine, turn on the World Movies channel and you'll be in heaven!

..........and if you're too busy to cook, my chicken dumplings are available in both of my stores every Friday :)

Happy cooking,

Simmone x