Whether you’re planning a dinner a deux, or just want to cook something lovely for the people who mean the most to you this Valentine’s Day, Contributing Food Editor Emily Jonzen’s recipe for lemon roasted chicken thighs and potatoes with garlic, anchovy and rocket dressing is perfect for sharing
IMAGE & STYLING: EMILY JONZEN
There’s no better way to show those close to me that I love them by cooking something delicious, simple and comforting, that I can also enjoy without getting in a flap.
This chicken recipe is simple enough to have prepped and ready within an hour, but the peppery, salty, lemony sauce that accompanies it suggests a little more effort and a lot of love.
It’s been written to serve two but can be scaled up to serve as many as you like.
Lemon-roasted chicken thighs and Charlotte potatoes with a garlic, anchovy and rocket dressing
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 4 free-range whole chicken thighs (with the skin and bone still intact)
- 350 g 350g waxy potatoes such as Charlotte or Vivaldi, scrubbed
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 small lemon half sliced
- 1 tbsps white wine or cider vinegar
- 4 anchovy fillets
- 60 g rocket leaves 15g in the sauce
- 1/4 tsp red chilli flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°c/ 180°c Fan/Gas 6.
- Pour 1 tbsp of the oil into a large, non-stick frying pan. Dry the chicken thighs well with kitchen towel and sprinkle the skin with a little salt. Add the chicken, skin-side down, to the pan and place over a medium heat. It may seem counter-intuitive not to heat the oil first but starting the chicken with cold oil will render the skin to golden, crisp perfection.
- Fry the chicken, moving around the pan occasionally, until the skin is golden and crisp. This should take 10-12 minutes.
- Whilst the chicken is browning, slice the larger potatoes into halves and leave any small ones whole. Tip into a roasting tin with the remaining oil and toss to coat. Add the browned thighs to the tin and tuck the lemon slices and garlic cloves amongst the chicken and potatoes. Season well with salt and pepper, pour over the vinegar and roast in the oven for 30- 40 minutes, turning the potatoes halfway through, until everything is golden and the chicken is cooked through.
- When the chicken is almost ready, finely chop the anchovy fillets and add to a bowl. Roughly chop 15g of the rocket and add this to the bowl, along with the juice of the remaining lemon half and the chilli flakes. Once the chicken is ready, carefully remove the garlic cloves from the pan and once slightly cooled, squeeze the soft flesh from the papery jackets and add this to the rocket mix, along with enough fat from the pan to make a spoonable sauce.
- Serve the chicken and potatoes on a bed of the remaining rocket with the sauce to spoon over or dip.
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