29 28 MARCH 2024 Chicken roasted with cauliflower, aubergines, raisins, pine nuts & capers This dish came about because I had a cauliflower and a couple of aubergines that needed to be used up. I love it when this happens – it’s culinary serendipity. Serve with the spinach & saffron orzo recipe below Serves 4 Prepare 15 minutes Cook 40-45 minutes 1 medium cauli ower, trimmed 2 medium aubergines, roughly cut into chunks about 2.5cm square 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 8 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in, or a mixture of thighs and drumsticks Pinch chilli akes (optional) 25g raisins 1 tbsp salted capers, soaked in water and rinsed 15g pine nut kernels ½ lemon, juice 4 sprigs mint, leaves torn 1 Heat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Break the cauli ower into orets until the core remains. Keep this for something such as soup. 2 Put the orets and the aubergines into a roasting tin where they can sit in a single layer. Season all over and add ½ the olive oil. Stir everything together, then put into the oven and cook for 10 minutes. 3 Trim the chicken pieces of any excess skin and put them on top of the vegetables, turning the vegetables around. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil, sprinkle with the chilli akes, if using, and season each piece. Return to the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes more – turning the vegetables over if they get too dark – until the chicken is cooked through, the juices run clear and there is no pink meat. 4 Scatter over the raisins, capers and pine nuts 10 minutes before the end of cooking time. When cooked, transfer the chicken and vegetables to a broad shallow serving bowl – hot, ideally – and scatter on the lemon juice and mint. Serve with the orzo, below. Per serving 3002kJ/721kcals/48g fat/9.6g saturated fat/14g carbs/11g sugars/7.1g bre/55g protein/0.7g salt/ gluten free Spinach & saffron orzo Orzo is so quick to cook that it’s a gift. In the UK, it was relatively unused – unless you were Italian and living here – until about 10 years ago. But since I discovered it many moons ago, there’s always been a pack in the cupboard Serves 4 Prepare 10 minutes Cook 25 minutes 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, nely chopped 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped 300g cherry vine tomatoes 1 clove garlic, nely grated to a purée 650ml chicken stock, hot, or a mixture of stock and water Good pinch sa ron 350g orzo 150g spinach leaves, washed 1 Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the onion and pepper and cook over a medium heat for 7-10 minutes until soft. 2 Add the tomatoes and cook for 4-5 minutes, squishing them with a wooden spoon, until soft. Add the garlic, stock and sa ron – stir the stock to help the sa ron infuse it – and bring to the boil. 3 Tip in the orzo, season, then lower the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to stop the pasta sticking to the bottom of the pan. The stock needs to be absorbed and the pasta should be tender with a little bite. 4 Stir in the spinach, until wilted, and taste to perfect the seasoning. Serve with the chicken. Per serving 1862kJ/440kcals/5.1g fat/0.9g saturated fat/76g carbs/10g sugars/7g bre/20g protein/0.3g salt/ source of bre
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