Chicken With pineapple and ‘nduja

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, at room temperature

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with the side of a knife

1 medium onion, halved and very thinly sliced on a mandolin ½ large, extra-ripe pineapple, peeled (300g) 4 sweet tangerines (or 2 oranges), squeezed to get 100g juice

100g chicken bone broth, stock or water

2 tbsp double cream

5g fresh coriander

1 lime, cut into wedges FOR THE ’NDUJA AND CHIPOTLE PASTE:

50g ’nduja paste/spread

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp tomato puree/paste ½ tsp chipotle flakes ½ tsp paprika

¾ tsp fine salt About 20 twists of freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C fan/200 degrees C.

2 Put all the ingredients for the paste into a large bowl and mix together. Add the chicken, garlic and three-quarters of the sliced onion and mix well so everything is coated evenly. Tip the onions and garlic into a 28cm ovenproof cast-iron skillet or similar-sized baking dish and spread out. Place the chicken thighs on top, skin side up and spaced apart.

3 Cut the pineapple into four rounds, then cut each round into quarters, removing the hard core (you should have about 300g). Add the pineapple to the bowl with the remnants of the paste, mix to coat with whatever’s left there, then arrange the pineapple around the chicken.

4 Pour the tangerine juice around the chicken (don’t get the skin wet), then bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour the stock or water into the pan around the chicken (again, don’t get the skin wet). Return to the oven for another 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is browned and crispy. If you have a blowtorch, use it to char the pineapple a little.

5 Drizzle the cream into the sauce. Toss the coriander and the remaining sliced onions together with a tiny bit of oil and salt and arrange on top. Serve from the pan, with the lime wedges alongside.