This is a tray bake which we love doing when we are
busy but hungry; easy to assemble and pop in the oven with no fuss. And it was
absolutely delicious. Full of flavour from many of the ingredients, especially
the garlic, thyme and tomatoes
4 large cloves of garlic – 1 teaspoon and a few sprigs
of fresh thyme – 4 tablespoons of olive oil – 8 skinless chicken pieces,
drumsticks and thighs – 3 tablespoons of water – 1 onion, sliced - 800g mixed
peppers (red green and yellow ) cored , seeded and roughly sliced – 150g spicy
chorizo, sliced - 1 fennel bulb, sliced and some of the green fronds – 20
pitted black olives – 200g cherry tomatoes – 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar– salt
and freshly ground black pepper
Turn on your oven to 180°C.
Make a paste from the garlic and the teaspoon of thyme
leaves with a little salt and pepper, using either a small blender or a pestle
and mortar. Coat the chicken generously with this paste and set it aside. Put
the water into the blender or the mortar that has contained the paste and stir,
you will add this flavoured water to the dish before you bake.
In a large roasting tin, layer the onion, peppers,
chorizo, fennel, olives and tomatoes. Toss with the remaining oil. Drizzle over
the vinegar and the water from your blender. Top with the chicken pieces and
then cover the dish with aluminium foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the
foil and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked and almost falling off
the bone, but not dry; about another 15 to 20 minutes.
Season and serve with crusty bread to dip into the
sauce, baked potatoes and green vegetables. Serves four, generously.
We had this with a bottle of Elgin Ridge 282 Sauvignon Blanc that we had been sent by the farm
to sample and it was a really perfect match. The wine is quite Mediterranean in
character, spicy and rich with quince fruit, granadilla. It has minerality and
lees palate weight. It reminded us more of the Alentejo style white wines we had in Portugal and Spain,
often made with the Fernão Pires, also known as Maria Gomes, grape as a component, that go so well with this style of food, it is
less crisp than the usual green South African Sauvignon Blanc
All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
