THURSDAY March 1 is St David’s Day and there is a great choice of Welsh food for all of us to enjoy while celebrating the patron saint of Wales.

Welsh cakes, Welsh rarebit, bara brith and laverbread are a few but there are many recipes featuring St David’s personal symbol - majestic leek – which can be knocked up in a few minutes. And leeks are still at their best now.

Here is a simple but appetizing recipe from www.britishleeks.co.uk for the family to enjoy and it won’t cost a fortune.

Chicken, Leek & Brioche Crumble

A creamy savoury crumble simple to prepare and perfect for an everyday family meal. You can prepare this in advance and chill until you are ready to cook. Using Brioche gives the bake a rich buttery flavour but you could use any quality bread. Make this gluten free by using an artisan style gluten free loaf instead of brioche.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

175g brioche loaf or gluten free bread

Handful of fresh parsley

3tbsp cornflour

Sea Salt and black pepper

400g chicken breast cut into strips

1tbsp olive oil

About 3 leeks 500g, finely sliced or shredded in a food processor

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

100ml white wine

125ml half fat creme fraiche or Greek yoghurt

100g grated cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas 6.

2. Place the brioche and parsley in a food processor and pulse to form a coarse crumble texture.

3. Place the cornflour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Dust the chicken in the cornflour.

4. Add the olive oil to a large saute pan. Fry the chicken on each side until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a plate.

5. Add the leeks, onion and garlic to the pan and cook very gently for five minutes until the leeks are soft. Return the chicken to the pan. Pour in the white wine and creme fraiche and simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Spoon the mixture into a baking dish. Scatter the crumble over the leeks and top with the grated cheese. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until bubbling.

Nutritional Analysis per serving

Calories 462kcal, Fat 18.4g, saturates 9.6g, Carbohydrates 28.7g, sugar 5.3g, fibre 6.2g, protein 37.8g, salt 1.1g