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Total Time:
2 hrs 30 mins
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 125 g (4oz) chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. freshly chopped thyme
- 6 whole chicken legs
- 18 slices thinly sliced pancetta
- 2 Tbsp. plain flour
- 25 g (1oz) butter
- 18 small shallots, peeled
- 12 garlic cloves, unpeeled but split
- 750 ml bottle medium white wine, such as chardonnay
- 2 bay leaves
- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC fan) mark 4. Heat 1tbsp oil in a frying pan and fry the mushrooms and the thyme until all the excess moisture has evaporated and the mixture is quite dry. Season and leave to cool.
- Step 2
Loosen the skin away from one chicken leg and spoon a little of the mushroom paste underneath. Season the leg all over, then wrap three pancetta slices around the thigh end. Repeat with remaining chicken legs, then dust using 1tbsp flour.
- Step 3
Melt the butter with the remaining 1tbsp olive oil in a frying
pan. Keeping the heat high, fry the chicken legs, in batches of two, seam side down, until golden. Turn the legs, brown the other side, then transfer to a deep, ovenproof, lidded pot. The browning process should take a good 8-10min per batch.
- Step 4
Next, brown the shallots and garlic in the same frying pan. Sprinkle over the remaining flour and cook for 1min. Pour in the wine. Bring to the boil, stirring, and add to the chicken with the bay leaves. Cover and cook in the oven for 1½hr.
- Step 5
Get ahead: make the recipe to the end of step 4. Cool quickly, then freeze in an airtight container for up to a month. To serve, thaw overnight at cool room temperature. Preheat the oven to 220ºC (200ºC fan) mark 7. Return chicken to the ovenproof pot and reheat in the oven for 15min. Reduce oven temperature to 180ºC (160ºC fan) mark 4 and cook for a further 25min.
Per Serving:
- Calories: 824
- Total carbs: 13 g
- Sugars: 7 g
- Total fat: 50 g
- Saturated fat: 13 g

The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
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