Oregano and Sage Roast Chicken with Panzanella
Panzanella is a tomato and bread salad hailing from Tuscany, Italy. It's a fantastic way to use up slightly stale bread but beyond that it's just bloody delicious!
This is my take on the classic and I've boosted up the flavour with olives, feta, shed loads of fresh herbs and a zingy, vibrant dressing that's lip-smackingly good! I like to serve mine with some roast chicken pieces, using the juices and the garlicky sauce it's cooked in to crisp up the croutons - unreal!
Oregano and Sage Roast Chicken with Panzanella
Serves 4
20g fresh sage
20g fresh oregano
1 lemon, halved
1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally
180ml dry white wine
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Glug sunflower oil for frying
1 chicken, jointed (or 4 skin-on chicken legs)
For the panzanella salad:
800g ripe mixed tomatoes, quartered, chopped or halved according to size
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
300g sourdough or country-style bread, torn into pieces
200g mix of any soft fresh herbs you like, such as mint, basil, parsley, tarragon
200g feta
290g jar pitted olives, drained, rinsed and roughly chopped
Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Scatter the sage and oregano sprigs over the base of a large (but not too deep) roasting tin that will comfortably fit the chicken in with room to spare. Squeeze over the lemon halves, then add them to the tin. Add the garlic halves, cut-side down, then pour over the white wine and extra-virgin olive oil.
Heat a frying pan with a drizzle of sunflower oil and season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Add to the pan, skin-side down, and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden on the underside. Flip, fry for a minute more, then put in the roasting tin and roast for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes and put in a large salad bowl with a good scattering of salt. Drizzle liberally with extra-virgin olive oil and the red wine/sherry vinegar, scatter with the sugar, then stir. Leave to stand so the juices leach out of the tomatoes.
When the chicken is cooked, take the roasting tin out of the oven and set the chicken aside on a plate somewhere warm to rest. Increase the oven temperature to 220°C/ 200°C fan/gas 7. Discard the lemon halves from the roasting tin, then add the bread and toss through the roasting juices and herbs to coat. Bake the croutons for 10-12 minutes, turning halfway through, until crisp.
When the croutons are cooked, add them to the salad bowl along with the herbs, feta and olives. Season, toss together and taste, adding more vinegar, salt or oil if you think it needs it – depending on how juicy your tomatoes are, you might need more dressing. Serve immediately with the chicken.
This is my take on the classic and I've boosted up the flavour with olives, feta, shed loads of fresh herbs and a zingy, vibrant dressing that's lip-smackingly good! I like to serve mine with some roast chicken pieces, using the juices and the garlicky sauce it's cooked in to crisp up the croutons - unreal!
Oregano and Sage Roast Chicken with Panzanella
Serves 4
20g fresh sage
20g fresh oregano
1 lemon, halved
1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally
180ml dry white wine
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Glug sunflower oil for frying
1 chicken, jointed (or 4 skin-on chicken legs)
For the panzanella salad:
800g ripe mixed tomatoes, quartered, chopped or halved according to size
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
300g sourdough or country-style bread, torn into pieces
200g mix of any soft fresh herbs you like, such as mint, basil, parsley, tarragon
200g feta
290g jar pitted olives, drained, rinsed and roughly chopped
Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Scatter the sage and oregano sprigs over the base of a large (but not too deep) roasting tin that will comfortably fit the chicken in with room to spare. Squeeze over the lemon halves, then add them to the tin. Add the garlic halves, cut-side down, then pour over the white wine and extra-virgin olive oil.
Heat a frying pan with a drizzle of sunflower oil and season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Add to the pan, skin-side down, and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden on the underside. Flip, fry for a minute more, then put in the roasting tin and roast for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes and put in a large salad bowl with a good scattering of salt. Drizzle liberally with extra-virgin olive oil and the red wine/sherry vinegar, scatter with the sugar, then stir. Leave to stand so the juices leach out of the tomatoes.
When the chicken is cooked, take the roasting tin out of the oven and set the chicken aside on a plate somewhere warm to rest. Increase the oven temperature to 220°C/ 200°C fan/gas 7. Discard the lemon halves from the roasting tin, then add the bread and toss through the roasting juices and herbs to coat. Bake the croutons for 10-12 minutes, turning halfway through, until crisp.
When the croutons are cooked, add them to the salad bowl along with the herbs, feta and olives. Season, toss together and taste, adding more vinegar, salt or oil if you think it needs it – depending on how juicy your tomatoes are, you might need more dressing. Serve immediately with the chicken.
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