Man Meal Of The Week: Spanish Chicken With Chorizo Baby Potatoes

I love the fact that you can chuck everything into a tray and you end up with a gorgeous flavour packed dish. Spicy chorizo, citrusy zest and a bit of slightly bitter oregano, crammed together with effortless baby potatoes and red onions makes this the ultimate weeknight meal. If you don’t eat chorizo, by all means leave it out, you can add baby tomatoes instead.

INGREDIENTS

3 tbsp olive oil
10 free-range chicken thighs (bone in, with skin)
250 g chorizo sausages, whole if baby ones, or cut into 4-cm chunks if regular-sized
10 baby potatoes, cut in half
1.5 red onions, sliced
3 tsp dried oregano
Grated zest of two oranges/naartjies
Sea salt and black pepper
Fresh herbs for garnish I used basil but you can use (parsley or oregano)

For the beans:

1 packet green beans, topped and tailed
½ a red onion, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp zest of two oranges/naartjies
Sea salt
Black pepper
Olive oil

METHOD
Serves 5 (2 pieces of chicken each)
Preparation 20 minutes
Cooking time 45 minutes

Preheat the oven to 220°C. 

Place 2 large frying pans on high heat and spray with Spray n Cook. Season the thighs with salt and pepper. Once the pans are piping hot, place the chicken skin side down and cook for 10 minutes, or until crispy. Flip them over and cook for another 5 minutes. 

While the chicken is browning, cut the baby potatoes in half, place in a microwave proof bowl and par-cook for 4 minutes. Then season with sea salt and black pepper.

Take out a large tray chuck in your potatoes, chopped chorizo, then place the chicken skin side up onto the potatoes. Sprinkle over the onions and the oregano, and grate over the orange/naartjie zest. Add a splash of olive oil, a pinch of salt and dash of water into the tray so the chicken doesn’t dry up, add about 120ml. 

Place in the middle of the oven and cook for 45 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked), basting occasionally with the beautiful orange-coloured juices.

When the chicken has 5 minutes cooking time left, place the green beans in boiling water, cook for 3 minutes. Place a frying pan on high heat, chuck in the left over chopped onions and crushed garlic with a tiny bit of olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Drain the beans, and place in the frying pan, grate in the zest, fry for 1 minute.

Once the chicken is cooked, top with fresh herbs and serve immediately.