Traybake With Alternative To Vermouth

Our answer

Nigella's Chicken And Pea Traybake (from AT MY TABLE) cooks chicken thighs over a bed of peas and leeks and is a one-pan dish. As the peas cook they sweeten and intensify in flavour and the steam created by the peas ensures the chicken remains moist and succulent. A small amount of dry white vermouth is added to the peas to give some extra liquid and to add flavour.

Vermouth is an aromatised and fortified wine and is a great addition to the storecupboard as it lasts for a fairly long time after opening and can add flavour to many dishes. It is particularly good for adding to risottos and sauces and can be used for deglazing pans after cooking fish, chicken or pork. The traybake uses a fairly small amount of vermouth (4 x 15ml tablespoons/60ml/1/4 cup) and this could be replaced with a dry white wine. If you don't want to open a bottle of wine or need to avoid alcohol then we would suggest using chicken or vegetable stock (broth) instead. However as some stocks can be a little salty you may want to reduce the amount of salt used in the recipe. We would suggest using 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt flakes, depending on how salty your stock is and also according to your own personal taste.