Spicy Beef Stuffed Chicken Thighs

Celebrating Mexico v France in the Women's World Cup

Beef stuffed chicken thighs in a rich, Mexican spiced tomato sauce

Chicken and beef are both very popular meat ingredients in Mexican and French cuisine. Fajitas are probably most commonly made using one of these two meats, while many classic French peasant dishes such as beef bourguignon or coq au vin see beef or chicken cooked long and slow until deliciously tender and tasty. It is probably fair to say, however, that in neither French nor Mexican recipes do you frequently see beef and chicken combined in the same actual dish. That is why I thought this idea made for the perfect experiment.

Chicken thigh fillets and minced/ground beef

Ingredients (Serves Two)

8 skinless chicken thigh fillets
1/2 pound minced/ground beef
Salt and pepper
Little vegetable oil for greasing roasting tray
14 ounce can chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
Small handful mixed, sliced bell peppers
1 red chilli pepper, moderately finely chopped
1 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander leaf/cilantro, plus extra to garnish
2 teaspoons Mexican fajitas spice

Stuffing chicken thigh fillet with seasoned beef

Directions

Start by getting your oven on to preheat to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6.

Season the beef with salt and pepper and squeeze it through with your hand. Open up the chicken thigh fillets on a board and carefully add a decent sized blob of beef at the thickest end of what would have been the inside. Carefully roll and tuck the end of the chicken thigh underneath.

Beef stuffed chicken thigh fillets

Lightly oil a large, ovenproof dish and sit the beef stuffed chicken thighs in it at evenly spaced intervals. Try not to have them touching in order to ensure free and even cooking.

Spicy tomato sauce flavourants

You could prepare the spicy tomato sauce in advance if you wish and leave it to marinade but this is not necessary.

Flavourants added to canned tomatoes

Pour the canned tomatoes in to a large bowl and add the peppers, coriander and fajitas spice. Note that I didn't seed the chilli pepper but this is down to both persoanl preference and the strength of your chilli.

Mixing ingredients for spicy tomato sauce

Stir the sauce ingredients carefully together before pouring evenly over the stuffed chicken thighs.

Spicy tomato sauce is poured over beef stuffed chicken thighs

Take a large sheet of tinfoil and use it to cover the dish for baking.

Stuffed chicken thighs are covered with foil for cooking

Put the covered dish in to your preheated oven for thirty-five minutes. Remove from the oven after cooking and allow to rest for ten minutes.

Spicy beef stuffed chicken thighs are ready to serve

A large slotted spoon is best used to lift four stuffed chicken thighs to each of two serving plates. An ordinary spoon can then be used to spoon some of the sauce on top before a final garnish of chopped coriander is added for service.

Spicy beef stuffed chicken thighs are plated