Crispy Chicken Thighs in Tomato Pepper Sauce with Cavolo Nero · Excerpt: Golden-skinned chicken thighs on a rich tomato, capsicum and mushroom sauce, with little roast potatoes and crunchy cavolo nero.
This is my cosy, mid-week, open-a-bottle-of-white kind of dinner. It’s basically a chicken cacciatore that I’ve tidied up a bit. The thighs get crisp skin in the pan, then sit on top of the sauce in the oven so the skin stays crunchy instead of going soggy.
The cavolo nero chips were a happy accident. I had half a bunch left over, threw it in the oven with some oil, and now I can’t serve this without them. They shatter when you bite into them, and they’re the perfect contrast to the soft, saucy chicken.
Serves: 4 · Prep: 20 minutes · Cook: 50 minutes
Ingredients
For the chicken and sauce
- 8 chicken thighs, skin on (bone in or boneless)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 1 red capsicum, diced
- 150 g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped
- 125 ml (½ cup) dry white wine
- 400 g tin crushed tomatoes
- 125 ml (½ cup) chicken stock
- Sea salt and pepper
For the potatoes
- 750 g large potatoes (Desiree or Dutch cream), or 600 g tiny chat potatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the cavolo nero chips
- ½ bunch cavolo nero (Tuscan kale), stems removed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- A pinch of sea salt
Method
- Prep the potatoes. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Peel the potatoes and use a melon baller to scoop out little balls (or just use halved chat potatoes). Boil them in salted water for 5 minutes, drain, and let them steam dry. Toss them with the olive oil and salt on a tray and roast for 30–35 minutes, shaking the tray halfway, until golden.
- Brown the chicken. Pat the thighs dry and season them well. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Lay the chicken in skin-side down and leave it alone for 8–10 minutes, until the skin is deep golden and crisp. Flip it for a minute, then lift it onto a plate.
- Build the sauce. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. Add the onion, capsicum and mushrooms and cook for 8 minutes until soft and starting to colour. Add the garlic, paprika and rosemary and cook for a minute. Pour in the wine and let it bubble away by half, scraping up all the sticky bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Simmer. Add the tomatoes and stock and simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Taste and season.
- Finish in the oven. Nestle the chicken back into the sauce, skin side up, so the skin sits above the liquid. Put it in the oven for 20–25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Make the cavolo nero chips. Tear the leaves into big pieces and massage them with the oil and salt. Spread them out on a lined tray in a single layer. Bake for the last 8–10 minutes alongside the chicken, until crisp but still dark green. Keep an eye on them, because they go from crisp to burnt quickly.
- Serve. Spoon the sauce onto plates, add the chicken, scatter over the potatoes and tuck in the cavolo nero chips. A drizzle of good olive oil over the top is lovely.
Tips
- Make sure the kale is completely dry before it goes in the oven, or it’ll steam instead of crisping.
- Boneless thighs cook a little faster, so check them after 15 minutes in the oven.
- A crisp, cold Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio is perfect with this.
Roast Chicken with Charred Cabbage and Tarragon Jus
SEO title: Roast Chicken with Charred Sugarloaf Cabbage and Tarragon Jus · Excerpt: Golden roast chicken, a blackened wedge of sweet cabbage and a glossy, herby pan sauce. A Sunday roast without the fuss.
Roast chicken is the meal I come back to more than any other, and this is my favourite way to do it right now. Instead of a pile of roast veg, I char a wedge of sugarloaf cabbage until it’s blackened on the outside and sweet and tender in the middle. If you’ve only ever had boiled cabbage, this will change your mind completely.
The real star, though, is the jus. It’s made in the roasting tin with all the sticky bits the chicken leaves behind, plus a bit of wine, stock, butter and fresh tarragon. It takes ten minutes, and you’ll want to pour it over everything.
Serves: 4 · Prep: 20 minutes · Cook: about 1 hour 20 minutes, plus resting
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 1 whole free-range chicken (about 1.6 kg)
- 40 g soft butter
- 1 lemon, halved
- 4 garlic cloves, bashed
- A few sprigs of thyme
- Sea salt and pepper
For the cabbage
- 1 sugarloaf (hispi) cabbage, cut into 4 wedges through the core
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 20 g butter
For the tarragon jus
- 125 ml (½ cup) dry white wine
- 375 ml (1½ cups) good chicken stock
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 30 g cold butter, cubed
- 2 tbsp chopped tarragon
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
- A squeeze of lemon
Method
- Get the chicken ready. Take the chicken out of the fridge 45 minutes before cooking and pat it really dry. Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced). Rub the butter all over the skin and season generously. Put the lemon, garlic and thyme inside the cavity.
- Roast. Put the chicken in a roasting tin and roast for 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 190°C (170°C fan-forced) and cook for another 45–50 minutes. It’s done when the juices run clear when you pierce the thickest part of the thigh, or when a thermometer reads 74°C.
- Rest. Lift the chicken onto a board, cover it loosely with foil and let it rest for 15 minutes. Don’t wash the tin.
- Char the cabbage. While the chicken rests, heat a large heavy frying pan or chargrill pan over high heat. Brush the cabbage wedges with oil and season them. Cook the cut sides for 4–5 minutes each, pressing down, until deeply charred. Add the butter, let it foam and spoon it over the cabbage. Cover with a lid for 3–4 minutes so the middle steams until tender.
- Make the jus. Tip most of the fat out of the roasting tin and set the tin over medium heat. Pour in the wine and scrape up all the sticky bits. Let it bubble until it’s almost gone. Add the stock and any juices from the resting chicken and simmer for 5–6 minutes until reduced by half. Whisk in the mustard, then the cold butter a cube at a time until glossy. Take it off the heat, stir in the tarragon, chives and lemon, and taste for salt.
- Carve and serve. Joint the chicken into breasts, thighs, drumsticks and wings. Put a cabbage wedge on each plate with some chicken, and spoon over plenty of jus.
Tips
- For the crispiest skin, leave the chicken uncovered in the fridge overnight before roasting. It dries the skin out beautifully.
- If you can’t find sugarloaf cabbage, savoy or a wedge of green cabbage works too. Cook it a few minutes longer.
- No tarragon? Use parsley and a little extra chives instead.
