Spiced Chicken and Potato Traybake

Serves 4-6

During the week (or weekend!) it’s a godsend to be able to throw a few ingredients in a dish and then pop it in the oven and forget about it for a while (it worked perfectly for me putting The Food Baby to bed!) and then hey-presto your dinner is ready with hardly any interference from you. This is just such a dish. It takes five or 10 minutes of prep and then about 50 minutes in the oven and it’s ready to serve.

You can choose how much effort you put in to the spicing too. I made my own spice mix, but if there is a shop-bought one you like, by all means use that.

I have suggested cooking this in two baking dishes, as I found cramming it into one made it overcrowded and would have resulted in it steaming rather than baking.

• Ingredients:

• For the spice mix:
• 1 tsp (hot) paprika
• 1 tsp chipotle chilli flakes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp sumac (or the grated zest of a lemon)
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder (or two garlic cloves, crushed)
• Pinch of salt

• For the bake:
• 2 peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 750g small new potatoes, quartered
• 2 red onions, peeled and cut into thin wedges
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• 1kg chicken thighs

• To serve (optional):
• 50g feta cheese, crumbled

Step 1: preheat the oven to 190c.

Step 2: Mix the spices together and set to one side.

Step 3: Toss the potatoes, peppers and onions in the olive oil and a pinch of salt and divide between two baking trays.

Step 4: Score the top of each of the chicken thighs with a sharp knife three times and place on top of the potatoes.

Step 5: Sprinkle the seasoning mix over the skin of the chicken and toss lightly with the vegetables, before nestling them, skin-side up amongst the potatoes and peppers.

Step 6: Place in the preheated oven and cook for 50 minutes.

This is nice served with a green salad and a sprinkling of crumbled feta over the potatoes and peppers (although leave this out if you want to make it dairy-free).