Perhaps it’s just me, but I’ve always felt there was something comforting about a tomato marinara sauce - perhaps it’s the sweet, rich tomatoes, or the fresh herbs and flavours? Whatever it is, it’s definitely one of our favourites in the house, something that we keep coming back to. Especially when poured over something as delicious as this! Bacon wrapped, asparagus stuffed chicken thighs… Absolutely phenomenal, and paired beautifully with this comforting sauce!

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs - boned and skinned

12 stalks of asparagus 

8 rashers of streaky bacon

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp thyme

Salt and pepper to taste 

The Sauce

500g passata 

1 small onion - chopped

2 cloves of garlic - crushed

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 tsp thyme

½ tsp sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°c

2. Open out the chicken thighs, cover them with cling film and then using a rolling pin pound each thigh out to an even thickness. 

3. Season each chicken thigh with salt and pepper, thyme and garlic powder. Place 3 stalks of asparagus in the middle of each thigh and bring each side into the middle to create a package. Using two rashers of bacon wrap around the thigh, place in a skillet pan or oven proof dish, ensuring that the ends of the bacon are on the underside. Repeat with each chicken thigh. 

4. Cook for 30 minutes

The Sauce

Gently saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil for three minutes making sure it doesn’t brown. Add the passata,  add sugar, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Cook gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Remove chicken from the oven after 30 minutes and spoon sauce over each piece of chicken - place back in the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes