Chicken with walnut pesto

First, poach the chicken: put a whole chicken (with no giblets) in a large pot, fill it with water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer gently for about 40 minutes or so – it really depends on the size of your chicken. You can season this with some herbs and salt and pepper, but it’s not necessary as the sauce is so tasty. Turn off the heat and let the chicken sit in the water for another 20 minutes.

Take it out and put it on a board or roasting tin and very carefully (it’ll still be hot), remove and discard the skin. Tear the meat and put it in a bowl.

Once you have all the meat removed, you can put the bones back in the pot and let it simmer away to make some chicken stock, if you wish.

For the walnut sauce: put everything except the butter (and the chicken, of course) into a food processor and blitz until it reaches the consistency of a thick paste. Season well and then add the melted butter. Toss the chicken in this sauce before serving.

This is best served while the chicken is still warm, but even if you mix and leave it to cool and then serve it the next day, it’s still delicious.