Chicken Cacciatore

Preparation

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  1.
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  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees or 160 degrees fan oven.
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  2. First prepare the vegetables. Peel and chop the onion finely and slice the celery very thinly. Deseed and chop the peppers into quarters, and then into strips. Peel and chop the garlic. Wipe the baby mushrooms and chop them in half.
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  3. Remove any skin from the chicken breasts and season with salt and black pepper on both sides. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil to a medium high heat in a large deep frying pan and brown the chicken breasts for about 3 minutes on each side. Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a plate.
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  4. Lower the heat under the pan, adding a little more oil if needed, then cook the onion and celery for about 5 minutes until the onion has softened, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and peppers and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Then stir in the mushrooms.
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  5. Spoon in the tomato puree, pour in the stock and stir. Discard the stems from the rosemary and the parsley and finely chop the leaves of both, then add to the pan. Season, stir everything together and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Tip the tomatoes into the pan and simmer for a further few minutes to heat them through.
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  6. Place the browned chicken in a warmed oven dish, just the right size for the 4 chicken breasts, and spoon the tomato sauce over and around them. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked right through. To serve, garnish with fresh basil.