Chicken, pumpkin & chorizo bake
I created this delicious baked chicken recipe on a wet, rainy Sunday when I had some chicken thighs and chorizo in the fridge. It’s based on Spanish flavours; the sweet butternut balances the little kick of pepper, and the lemon and spices add a nice dimension to effectively what is a simple roast. Don’t be scared of using the thighs with skin on – it adds so much more flavour – and most of the fat is rendered out at the beginning anyway. This was gobbled up by three hungry men with marks of 10/10 from all. I’m sure it will be a hit with your family too.
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 kg chicken thighs, skin on, bone in (you could also use drumsticks)
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp paprika
¼ tsp chilli powder or cayenne pepper (you can use more if you like it hot!)
6 baby onions peeled and halved (or two onions, quartered)
4 cloves garlic, peeled & roughly chopped
2-3 chorizo sausages, chopped
1 x medium butternut pumpkin, deseeded and chopped into chunks
½ cup chicken stock
1 tsp dried oregano (or 2 tsp fresh chopped)
1 x tin cannellini beans, rinsed
½ cup Kalamata olives
¼ cup roasted red pepper cut into strips (optional)
¼ of a lemon
Feta cheese
Salt and pepper
Loaf of nice crusty bread to soak up the juices on the plate
Method
Preheat the oven to 170c conventional bake.
Coat the chicken in a little olive oil, then sprinkle with the cumin, paprika, and chilli and massage the spices in. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and cook the chicken, skin side down until the skin is golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pan and tip out the fat (a lovely treat for your dog once it’s cooled!).
Heat a little more oil in the pan, then add the onions, oregano, chorizo and garlic a cook for a few minutes. Add the chicken stock and let it bubble for 30 seconds.
Place the butternut, cannellini beans, olives and red pepper in the bottom of a baking dish. Add the chicken pieces and nestle them in. Pour the stock mixture over the top and jiggle everything around so it’s all coated. Squeeze the ¼ lemon over top.
Drizzle another little bit of olive oil over the top and then bake in the oven for 1 hour, basting the chicken every 20 minutes or so.
To serve, sprinkle with crumbled feta, and serve with a green salad and crusty bread. Spoon the juice at the bottom of the pan over the chicken once it’s on the plates.
