Chicken with smoky chipotle and peppers

Prep time: 10 minutes, plus 4 hours to marinate Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves 6

The work here isn’t just done by the oven but by the flavours you add to the chicken. This dish looks lovely too – vibrant. As well as the sweet potatoes overleaf I would offer a green salad on the side.

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken

– 1.7kg chicken, jointed

– 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

– 3 tbsp chipotle paste

– 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

– 1 tbsp ground cumin

– 3 garlic cloves, grated

to a purée

– 2 tbsp sherry vinegar

– 1½ tbsp soft lightbrown sugar

– juice of 1 lime, plus wedges of lime, to serve

– 2 tbsp olive oil

– 10g coriander leaves,

roughly chopped

For the peppers

– 2 red and 2 yellow peppers, deseeded and cut into slices 1cm thick (at the thickest part)

– 2 tbsp olive oil – 1½ tsp cumin seeds – 1½ tsp ground paprika

METHOD

Trim any excess skin from the chicken on the joints so they’re neat, but don’t trim too much as the skin will shrink while the chicken is cooking. Make incisions all over the fleshy side of the chicken with a small knife and put the joints in a dish.

In a small bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients for the chicken, except the coriander and wedges of lime. Season, then pour the marinade all over the chicken, turning the pieces to ensure they are well coated. Cover the dish with cling film or foil and put it in the fridge. Leave for 4 hours, turning the pieces every so often.

Heat the oven to 200C/190C fan/ gas mark 6.

Pick the chicken pieces out of the marinade and put them on a baking tray with a rim, or in a roasting tin (discard the marinade). The chicken needs to lie in a single layer, skin-side up, but there shouldn’t be a lot of room around each piece, otherwise the juices will run off and burn. Sprinkle a little salt over each piece. Put the chicken in the oven and cook for 40 minutes, spooning the juices up over the chicken now and then as it cooks.

Meanwhile, put the pepper slices on to a baking tray with a rim where they can lie in a single layer. Add the olive oil, cumin and paprika. Season. Toss everything round with your hands.

After the chicken has been cooking for 10 minutes, put the peppers in the oven and cook until they’re soft and slightly scorched.

When it’s ready, put the chicken into a big, shallow serving bowl (preferably one you’ve heated) and add the peppers and their juices. Spoon some of the chicken cooking juices on top. Scatter on the coriander and serve with lime wedges for squeezing.