I just had to get the recipe for chicken, mushroom & camargue red rice bake on my blog as soon as I could, we had this for dinner last night and I have to say it is one of the best dinners I have eaten in a long time, it was just gorgeous. If you could get one meal that summed up autumn, this dish would be it.

There is a little prep required, but once its in the oven, thats it for an hour and a half, you can sit back with a glass of wine and relax, perfect for a dinner party.

The flavours are rich, intense and warming, you have the earthiness of the mushrooms, the gorgeous roast chicken juices oozing into the Camargue rice in the bottom of the dish and when you come to serve, you have this fantastic tasting mushroom like risotto to serve with your chicken, it truly is an autumn evening delight.

The Camargue red rice is a relatively new variety of rice cultivated in the wetlands of the Camargue region of southern France. It is a short-grained and unmilled variety of rice and is therefore quite sticky and is a brownish-red colour. It has an intense somewhat nutty taste and a naturally chewy texture, it works so well in this dish.

So wether you buy your mushrooms or forage for them, this is a gorgeous way to use them.

Buon appetito

Serves 4

30g dried porcini mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
1.5kg whole chicken
2 sticks celery, sliced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400g mixed mushrooms, cleaned
250g Camargue red rice
150ml dry vermouth or white wine
800ml chicken stock

Heat the oven to 200C, 180C fan, gas mark 6.

Put the porcini in a bowl and cover with 300ml of boiling water. Leave to stand for 20 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large pan, (I used my large casserole dish that has a lid, it saved on washing up as everything could be done in the one pan) then brown the chicken all over. Set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and gently fry the celery and the onion in it for 15 minutes until softened. Add the crushed garlic and cook for a further minute.

Slice any large mushrooms and keep the smalls ones whole. Add to the onion and fry, stirring constantly and gently, until softened.

Drain the dried mushrooms, reserving the liquor. Roughly chop and add to the mushrooms in the pan.

Stir in the rice and cook for 1 minute, coating well in the oil and juices. Add the vermouth/wine and bubble until reduced by two-thirds.

Strain the mushroom liquor to remove any grit, then pour into the pan with the stock. Bring to the boil, then transfer to a casserole dish large enough to hold the rice and chicken (you can see why I used my large lidded pan now ). Put the chicken on top and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes (removing the lid for the last 15 minutes) until the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the thigh.

Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then carve the chicken and serve with the rice and seasonal green vegetables.