Hit 'N' Run Traybaked Chicken

It's our monthly featured chef week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), and the featured chef is Jamie Oliver. I have six of his books and out of the hundreds of recipes, there's one chicken dish that I've been wanting to make for a long time. Hit 'N' Run Traybaked Chicken. Such a funny and interesting name for a dish. I like its name and the dish even better!

According to Jamie "Everyone needs a hit 'n' run  recipe like this - it's the kind of fallback meal you can enjoy when prep time isn't on your side. It's simply a case of putting together a combination of ingredients that really love each other, then just tearing, mixing, marinating and baking. It's super quick to prepare, and you're letting the oven do all the work". 

Yup, this is a super easy meal to prepare.  

The chicken thighs are very moist and tender, baked to a lovely golden brown. I've used cherry tomatoes instead of large tomatoes, and have used an additional tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, adding it in when I was basting the chicken during cooking . I tasted the lovely juices during basting, and felt that it needed a little more balsamic vinegar, adjust to taste. This delicious chicken meal is served with some green salad on the side. 

Hit N Run Traybaked Chicken
(adapted from "Save With Jamie", by Jamie Oliver)
serves 4
4 large ripe tomatoes
2 red onions
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 bunch of fresh thyme (15gm)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Quarter the tomatoes and place them in a large baking dish or roasting tray (roughly 25cm x 30cm). Peel the onions and cut into large wedges, then deseed and roughly chop the peppers. Add all these to the tray along with the chicken thighs.

Squash the unpeeled garlic cloves with the back of your knife and add to the tray, then pick over the thyme leaves and sprinkle over the paprika. Add the oil, balsamic and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Toss everything together really well to coat, then spread across the tray, making sure the chicken isn't covered by the vegetables. Roast for around 1 hour, or until the chicken is golden and cooked through, turning and basting it a couple of times during cooking with the juices from the tray. Serve the traybake with a lovely green salad on the side. You could also buddy it up with a little rice, polenta or a loaf of crusty bread to mop up the juices.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

Monthly Featured Chef : Jamie Oliver