Chicken Tray Bake
Paprika, lemon and chicken thighs are a marriage made in roast heaven, so at the heart of this tray-bake is this winning flavour combination. This is a brilliant family meal, which should could everyone well fed - with minimum effort.
When making family-style tray bakes add a starchy carbohydrate; such as, sweet potatoes, potatoes, butternut squash and pumpkin to make the dish filling. Choose 1-2-3 vegetables: asparagus, fennel, broccoli, to make the tray bake a complete meal: saving time, prep, cooking and most importantly washing up. Generally roasting green vegetables can bring out their more bitter notes and this may not be your preference. Consider the cooking time for each ingredient you use and prep accordingly: this will even out cooking times.
ingredients
Serves 6
8 organic chicken thighs, skin on/ bone in (1 kg approx)
700g-800g potatoes quartered
1 organic unwaxed lemon, halved
1 teaspoon sweet paprika (not spicy)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 large punnet cherry tomatoes (700g approx)
3 tablespoons olive oil
thyme sprigs (1 per chicken piece)
black pepper, freshly ground to season
Serve with a sprinkling of fresh herbs, chopped: e.g. dill, parsley, mint, or basil
method
Preheat the oven to 190C fan oven. Prep the potatoes: wash, trim (I don’t peel as there is so much nutrition under the skin), quarter and in a bowl toss in 1 tablespoon olive oil.
In a mixing bowl bowl toss the chicken thighs and halved lemon with olive oil, sweet paprika, dried oregano and lightly season with a little black pepper.
Then take a lines baking tray: place the eight chicken thighs (skin side up) on the tray, with the lemon halves. Scatter the potatoes and cherry tomatoes around the chicken pieces; making sure the chicken skin is visible, so that it can crisp up during cooking.
Place in the preheated oven and cook at 190C fan oven for 10 mins; then lower the temperature of the oven to 180C fan oven for a further 50 minutes. A total of 1 hours cooking time. If you get time - check halfway and baste the chicken pieces with the juices in the bottom of the tray. Once the chicken is completely cooked through, remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes.
Serve on a big platter, squeezing over the juices from the cooked lemons and scattering with fresh herbs.