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Delicious Mediterranean style chicken tray bake and a fabulous wine pairing.
What do you do when you are craving roast chicken but you live by yourself. Or when you have a pack of chicken thighs or drumsticks but don’t want a casserole. So long as your chicken pieces still have skin (and preferably some bone) it’s perfectly possible to make a delicious Mediterranean style chicken tray bake dinner that will rival the best whole roast. It is important to have some skin on the chicken if you want to cook the version I’m showing here. But, if you happen to have skinless breasts, you can still make a version of this dish. I’ll explain how later on.
In my case, I went to the farmers’ market this weekend and picked up a half chicken. For a small household, it’s a great idea because you get a breast on the bone, leg and wing. A tray bake is a great way to use it – or it can be pot roast in stock, wine or a tomato-based sauce.
It feels like the start of Spring – outside, the trees are in blossom and the sky is blue. Just to nudge the weather into touch and encourage summer along, I decided that a Mediterranean Chicken tray bake would be perfect. It’s one of those recipes you can mix up depending on what’s in the fridge and store cupboard. In my case, an aubergine, red onion, garlic, tomatoes and a few herbs. By cooking the recipe in two separate trays you can also serve the Mediterranean vegetables to any veggie or vegan diners without worrying
As it happens I did have a rather special bottle of wine to try and pair – the Louis Jadot Bourgogne Blanc Clos de Loyse 2016. It’s the sort of wine you should bring out when you want to demonstrate just how special a good Chardonnay can be. It’s a single estate Chardonnay from Chateau des Jacques, light and fragrant with stone fruit notes and good minerality. Louis Jadot is a major wine producer in Burgundy, established in 1859 which specialises in wines from the Grands Terroirs of the Bourgogne. This Chardonnay comes from the Chateau des Jacques estate in Moulin a Vent, which Louis Jadot acquired in 1996. It’s one of the most prestigious estates in Beaujolais with 5 different ‘clos’ (essentially fields or plots) totally 20.4 hectares. The 9 hectares of Chardonnay vines are used to make this really delicious, delicate wine.
It’s unoaked so really fresh and easy-drinking. You could quite easily enjoy it as an aperitif, but it also paired really well with my simple, Mediterranean tray bake chicken dish.
An easy Mediterranean chicken tray bake that can be adapted to work with different chicken cuts and with a variety of different vegetables
- 1 half Chicken or skin on chicken portions of your choice
- 2 Potatoes
- 1 Red Onion
- 1 small Aubergine you can use any combination of suitable vegetables including courgettes (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant), mushrooms and carrots.
- 2 Tomatoes Or half a tin of plum tomatoes
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 sprig Rosemary
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 drizzle Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 tsp dried oregano or mixed herbs
- 1 handful Fresh Basil
- Salt, Pepper and Chilli Flakes
Pre-heat the oven to 180c (175c fan oven)
Dice the aubergine into 1cm cubes
Chop the tomatoes into a reasonable size. For regular tomatoes, quarters are perfect. Cherry tomatoes can be left whole or halved. Beefsteak style tomatoes need to be diced into 2cm cubes
Peel the onion and cut into segments, crush the garlic cloves
Mix together all the prepared vegetables* with half the olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of oregano or dried mixed herb and a drizzle of balsamic. Season well with salt and pepper
Spread the vegetable mixture into a baking tray
Scrub and dice the potatoes into 1cm cubes. There's no need to peel them unless you want to.
Put the chicken and potatoes in a separate tray with the rosemary and the remaining clove of garlic. Using two trays will help allow the potatoes to crisp up nicely. Drizzle over the remaining olive oil and season well with salt, pepper and chilli flakes. *If you are using skinless chicken breasts or simply don't care if your potatoes are crispy or not, feel free to use one larger baking tray.
Put everything in the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until your chicken is cooked through. Reduce the time by about 10 minutes for boneless chicken breast, thighs or drumsticks
Serve, garnishing the vegetables with torn basil leaves.
Any left over veg can be served the next day, hot or cold
An easy chicken traybake that can be made in one or two trays and adapted to whatever ingredients you have in the house
This is a really easy recipe that adapts well for larger families. You can cook everything in one tray – especially if you are using chicken breasts or thighs. But, by splitting out the chicken and potato from the vegetables, you have a vegetarian option too that could be served with an omelette or some grilled halloumi or even with vegan sausages that can cook in the oven at the same time.
The Louis Jadot Bourgogne Blanc Close de Loyse makes an excellent pairing for this Mediterranean chicken tray bake.
We are currently working on a series of wine pairings with wines from independent wine merchants and this particular wine can be bought from Fareham Wine Cellar and Noble Green Wines. Both offer an online shop and delivery throughout the UK.
Looking for something different? Do check out my Low-Calorie Tarragon Chicken recipe or this very quick and easy Spanish pork casserole with paprika
Chicken can be so bland, so this recipe is one I intend to try
it’s really easy and quite delicious!
You are making me hungry and thirsty! i struggled to buy Balsamic Vinegar the other day but won in the end.
delish