Scarlett's Pantry: Summery wintery tomato bake

I love going shopping. Grocery shopping to be precise. I know, it's weird. I hear people complaining about having to do their weekly shops, groaning at the thought of finding a parking spot, navigating isles packed with screaming children and dealing with either sullen checkout assistants or smugly slow and stupid self-service machines. But I don't. I'd gladly spend a day or more wandering the isles of shops, big or small, global multinational or small boutique independent routing out new, interesting or hard to get ingredients. Or things that can only possibly be used for one recipe ever but can't be passed up.

I will admit that when I go to France on holidays, I do get excited by seeing the large Intermarche, E.LeClerc or SuperU's on the edge's of town. Not to mention the tiny shops in every hamlet or town selling local specialities and fresh produce. Seriously..if a guy took me on a first date to a food shop I'd be pretty damn happy.

But there are times when I go shopping and robotically buy the same things week in week out. The safe foods that are needed in the house in case my brain stops functioning and can't come up with a decent food combination. Stuff like yoghurt. And Ryvita. And pesto. (I wouldn't recommend that particular combination) ( oh and there is nothing wrong with shop bought pesto, it saves many a mundane meal)

In this robot shopping mode I tend to always put a few chicken fillets. I'm not a huge meat eater (mind out of the gutter there..) but chicken serves me well. Low fat and high in protein, easy to cook and versitile, there is literally very little you can't do with chicken. Apart from drink it (Don't ask). So I came home on Friday evening with enough chicken to feed a football team..the weekend was going to be a chicken fest.

I've been going through a small Italian phase of late..it could have something to do with seeing Gino D'Acampo on TV last weekend and swooning over both him and the sheer gorgeousness of Rome. Italian food is very very simple, but what you need is fresh, great ingredients. This can be hard in Ireland...a lot of the ''Italian'' ingredients such as tomatoes and basil aren't at peak when sold in shops. The reality is these things thrive on sunshine, and we all know that is pretty rare in Ireland. If you're lucky and grow your own tomatoes,

then in a year like we've had, tomatoes are ripe and raring to go for Italian dishes. If not, you can use tinned versions (but do spend the extra money on a good brand, it's worth it).

This dish merges the best of summery Italian produce with the ease of winter comfort food. What could be better for weekend food? (Plus this dish easily serves 4 and comes out at less than 400cals per serving - so pretty freaking healthy no?)

You will need:

3 Chicken fillets (or thighs or drumsticks, your choice!)

2 tbsp flour seasoned with 1 tsp chilli flakes, 1tsp paprika, 1tsp oregno, 1tsp basil, salt and pepper

2 onions, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

200g lardons (or chopped streaky rashers)

3 sprigs of rosmary, leafs pulled off and finely chopped

250ml cider

25 ml sherry vinegar

2 tsp fennel seeds

400g chopped tomatoes (you can use tinned)

400g cherry tomatoes

1. Preheat the oven to gas 5/190C. Dust the chicken in the flour.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large pan or wok over a medium heat. Brown the fillets one by own for 3/4 each side. Set aside in a roasting tin or casserole dish.

2. heat the remaining oil in the pan , add the pancetta and cook for 2 minutes until beginning to crisp then add the fennel seeds, onions and half the rosemary. cook for 5 mins until the onions soften. add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring for 4 minutes until golden.