Food & Wine
Chicken, chorizo and olive tray bake
“This wonderful mid-week bake requires very little labour, yet is incredibly delicious. Sherry, a fortified wine, adds complexity and character. I use a Spanish variety but there are some great Australian options that you can find at most bottle shops. This dish is versatile and the ingredients are interchangeable. I sometimes swap the chickpeas for parboiled waxy potatoes or add different herbs, such as bay leaves and oregano, or chilli and tomatoes. A simple salad of herbs and peppery green leaves, such as rocket, works really nicely with this,” writes Justine Schofield in her latest cookbook Simple Every Day.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 6 boneless chicken thighs, skin on, cut in half
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
- 2 chorizo sausages, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled and bruised
- 150 g green Sicilian olives
- 1 x 400 g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3 rosemary sprigs
- 8 cm strip of orange zest
- 80 ml dry sherry (or a dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc or chardonnay)
- 125 ml chicken stock
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Combine the chicken, onion, capsicum and chorizo in a bowl. Drizzle over the oil and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix well with your hands.
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium–high heat and add the chicken, skin-side down. Seal on each side for 2–3 minutes until the skin is golden and crisp. Remove and place, skin-side up, in a 2 litre ovenproof baking dish. To the same pan, add the onion, capsicum and chorizo and seal for 3–4 minutes until golden. Now add to the baking dish along with the garlic, olives, chickpeas, rosemary and orange zest and arrange in an even layer.
- Drain away any excess oil from the pan and heat over high heat. Add the sherry, stir to deglaze and cook for 1 minute or until reduced by one-third. Pour the reduced sherry and the stock in and around the meat and vegetables, then bake for 35–40 minutes until golden and the pan juices have reduced. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe courtesy of Simple Every Day by Justine Schofield (Plum, $39.99).