I recently invested in a beautifully wide, Shropshire-made pan that works on the hob and in the oven with equal ease, and without the chemical nonstick lining I keep reading about. It is a brilliant pan. As I turn on the heat to crisp the skin on my chicken thighs on the stove top, I can prep the vegetables I will then roast in the same pan. There is a soothing rhythm to this type of cooking, where most of the work is done in the oven. Here, I use jerusalem artichokes, the most delicious of autumn vegetables, parboiled in lemon juice to make them more digestible and then roasted with garlic and onions, until beautifully caramelised, and it’s a marvellous thing to put down on the kitchen table.
Crispy chicken and pancetta with roast jerusalem artichokes
The crisp chicken and sweet onions are scented with rosemary and flecked with cubes of pancetta for bursts of salty fat.
Prep 5 min
Cook 1 hr 30 min
Serves 4
8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
700g jerusalem artichokes
Salt and black pepper
Juice of ½ lemon
4 tbsp olive oil
120g diced pancetta
2-3 sprigs rosemary
1 head garlic
3 red onions, peeled, halved and cut into 1cm slices
2 tbsp apple balsamic vinegar
Take the chicken out of the fridge and leave to come to room temperature. Scrub the jerusalem artichokes in cold water with wire wool or similar, then halve or quarter them, depending on their size; discard any skinny or gnarled ends (don’t worry about bits of skin in the nooks and crannies, because you’re going to simmer them). Put the artichokes in a pan of salted water, add the lemon juice, bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, until they are tender to the point of a knife.
Meanwhile, prep the chicken. Generously season the thighs all over. Put a 28-32cm wide shallow ovenproof pan or casserole on a medium heat, add a splash of the oil and the pancetta, then lay in the chicken thighs skin side down. Run your hand down the rosemary sprigs to strip the leaves into the pan, then cut the head of garlic in half, prise apart the cloves (reserve one clove for the salad below) and drop into the pan; discard any skins that fall off. Leave to cook for eight to 10 minutes, until the chicken starts to brown.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Lift the chicken thighs out of the pan, add the onion and artichokes, season generously and stir. Pour over the remaining olive oil and the vinegar, and roast the veg for 20 minutes. Return the chicken thighs to the pan on top of the vegetables and cook for a further 35-40 minutes, until the chicken is brown and crisp and the vegetables caramelised and delicious. Serve with the apple, parsley and hazelnut salad below.
Apple, parsley and hazelnut salad with pickled red onion
A crunchy salad to accompany the crisp chicken. I adore apple in salads at this time of year.
Prep 5 min
Macerate 30 min+
Cook 20 min
Serves 4
For the onions
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp runny honey
1 small garlic clove (leftover from the chicken recipe above)
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper
1 red onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
For the salad
60g hazelnuts
35g flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
2 baby gems
1 large cox apple, or 2 small ones
60-70ml extra-virgin olive oil
First, pickle the onion. Put the vinegar, mustard, honey, garlic and lemon juicein a glass or small non-reactive bowl and whisk. Season, add the sliced onion, then leave to macerate for at least half an hour.
Meanwhile, put the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast (alongside the chicken, if you’re making that) at 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 for five to six minutes, until toasted and golden. Remove and roughly chop the nuts.
Put the parsley in a salad bowl with the chopped hazelnuts. Cut off the stems of the gem lettuces, cut each one in half lengthways and then cut each half into three or four long, thin slivers. Add to the salad bowl.
When you are ready to eat, cut the apple(s) into quarters, remove the cores and cut each quarter into slices. Add to the salad bowl and season. Tip the onions with their pickling liquid and the extra-virgin olive oil on top, toss to combine and serve with the chicken above.
