CRISPY CHICKEN THIGHS WITH SQUASHED NEW POTATOES AND TOMATOES

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I love love love this recipe. It is so easy to make; as soon as you have made this once you’ll be eye-balling everything. It easy to double for a nice dinner party of 8. It is always a crowd pleaser because it is real comfort food. Even leftovers are yummy. We serve it along side a salad with a simple balsamic vinaigrette, usually right on the same plate making it feel even more rustic.

I like this dish for a casual dinner party because you can do all the busy work before guests arrive and it can finish in the oven while your guests arrive and have a drink prior to sitting down to eat. 

Adapted from Jamie at Home Cookbook (Jamie Oliver)

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 - 1.25 lb. new potatoes, cleaned

  • Sea salt and freshly ground back pepper

  • 12 boned chicken thighs, skin on

  • Olive oil

  • 1.5 pints cherry tomatoes, different shapes and colors if you can find them

  • A bunch of fresh oregano

  • Extra virgin olive oil

  • Red wine vinegar [Balsamic vinegar makes a tasty substitution]

Directions

Put the potatoes into a large sauce pan of salted boiling and boil until cooked.

While the potatoes are cooking, preheat your oven to 400°F. Cut each chicken thigh into three strips and place in bowl. Rub the meat all over with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then toss. Heat a large frying pan, big enough to hold all the chicken pieces snugly in one layer, and put the chicken into the pan, skin side down. If you don’t have a pan big enough, feel free to cook the chicken in two batches. Toss and fry over a high heat for 10 minutes or so, until almost cooked, then remove with a slotted to an ovenproof pan or dish.

Prick the tomatoes with a sharp knife. Place them in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for a minute or so [you can leave them longer and they will be fine]. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, pinch off their skins. You don’t have to, but by doing this they will become lovely and sweet when cooked, and their intense flavor will infuse the potatoes [It is true, it is worth peeling them, they are a real highlight of the dish. We often add extra tomatoes]. By now the potatoes will be cooked. Drain them in a colander, then lightly crush them by pushing down on them with the back of a wooden spoon.

Bash up most of the oregano leaves with a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar. Add 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a good splash of red wine or balsamic vinegar and some pepper and give everything another bash. Add to the chicken with the potatoes, the tomatoes and the rest of the oregano leaves. Toss everything together carefully. Spread out in a baking dish and bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven until golden. Use a pretty baking dish, like this Le Creuset Signature Cast-Iron Braiser, so it can go from the oven straight to the table. 

Serve hot with a side salad. 

Leftovers are great warmed up too!