Tray-baked chicken with pomegranates and walnuts
I love serving this when I have friends over for dinner as the sweet-sour flavour is so delicious, yet it truly involves little more than putting all the ingredients in a roasting tin and popping it in the oven! It is based on the flavours of a fesenjan – a Persian dish flavoured with a pomegranate and walnut sauce that is often served at Rosh Hashanah because pomegranates are said to have as many seeds as there are positive commandments in the Bible that we should resolve to accomplish – 613, in case you were wondering! I like to serve this with a simple spinach salad scattered with slivers of date and orange segments.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
1 onion, finely chopped 1 aubergine, cubed
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g -bulgar wheat Grated zest of 1 orange
A large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
250ml hot chicken stock (from a cube is fine)
8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs 150g walnuts, roughly chopped 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses pomegranate seeds, to garnish
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put the onion and aubergine in a bowl with the olive oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Add the bulgar wheat, orange zest and half the chopped parsley. Tip into a roasting dish, just big enough to hold the chicken pieces in a single layer.
Pour over the hot stock, then lay the chicken pieces over the top, skin-side up. Scatter the walnut pieces around and drizzle the pomegranate molasses all over the top.
Cover the dish with foil and cook for 30 minutes, then take the foil off and cook for a further 30 minutes.
By this time the chicken should be cooked through and browned, and the bulgar tender. Serve garnished with the remaining parsley and the pomegranate seeds.
All recipes adapted from Cherish, Headline Home, £28
Serves 4 as a main, 8 as a side
INGREDIENTS:
1 large cauliflower, most of the outer leaves removed but stem remaining
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp za’atar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 tomatoes
For the tahini sauce:
150g tahini
100ml cold water
1 garlic clove, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper