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.
Is this recipe gluten free?
This was amazing! Beautiful flavours and texture!! Will definitely make again!
Hi Chelsea, I wanted to make this but didn’t have cannellini beans, so I used canned chickpeas and it was still delicious! Thank you so much for sharing such a yummy recipe!!!
I’ve cooked this for years now but I use chicken thighs so much juicier and I use golden kumera instead pumpkin .sweeter. love your cooking just like my tastes.thanks
Hi I have tryed your lamb shanks and they were a winner,lots of ingredients but worth it,I also have looked at alot of your other recipes I’m looking forward to trying,if I need a menu to impress I always look up yours, keep up the good work.
This has been on my “to cook” list for a while, finally made it tonight because I had some butternut squash and chorizo to use – and oh my goodness!! Chelsea it was absolutely fantastic! So simple yet the flavours were incredible. YUM! Thank you :D
Hi, would it be possible to use breasts instead of thighs? Would the cooking time change?
Thanks looks delicious!
Hi Chelsea, would this be possible to do in a slow cooker using thighs (bones or boneless) turning on before work? Or would extra stock be needed? Thanks! It’s such a delicious dish!
Hey Bridget, I haven’t done this before, it would change the dish – but I guess it could work!
Hi there,I have bought your latest book and am thoroughly enjoying trying our your super recipes. Neat to have such a good web site too. Just wondering if you could mention which book the web recipes are in? (the ones that are featured in your books, that is, I’m guessing some on this site may be new) a) would save re printing them for us, if we are browsing and something takes our fancy, which is already in one of your books and b) would help promote your lovely books. Guess this would be quite a bit of work to do retroactively but perhaps for future. Just a thought. Best wishes. Sue
Top hole recipe once again Chelsea :-) It was just delicious. If I had that at a restaurant I’d return again and again!
This is such a delicious recipe. I used smoked paprika instead of cayenne for a smokey flavor and had plain yoghurt with some chipotle sauce as a side. Thank you for this recipe.
What do I do if i only have fan bake? :(
Hi there Chelsea I just made this tonight and its amazing I loved it and my lovely partner loved it more. Thank you :)
Hi Chelsea, the title says ‘pumkpin’ I thought you might like to correct the spelling. Cheers.
Thank you, all fixed!
Hi Chelsea, i have made this twice now and my family adore it!! I just love following your ideas and cant wait for someone to buy me the book X J
Thanks Jen, awesome to hear!
Is this self basting if I add a bit more stock and do this in the slow cooker over a bit longer time? (I’ll be using chicken breasts too, if that makes any difference.)
You could do it in a slow cooker but I wouldn’t recommend using the breast with the slow cooker – thighs will come out a lot more tender! Breast would be fine in the oven though.
Hi I made this recipe and my whole family loved it!!! it was very simple to make. I do have one question, though when do you add the oregano?
Hi Rebekah, good question! Same time as you put the chorizo and garlic into the pan. Thanks for noticing!! Chels
Hi Chelsea
How about providing a “printer friendly version” using the printer icon?
Also a “Pin It” option in your social share options?
Cheers and kind regards
Judy
Hi Judy, sorry it took me so long to reply. I’ve finally updated the site with the changes you suggested – hope this helps in future!