Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Olives

Chicken thighs are not only the best-tasting part of the chicken (in my opinion), but also such good value. I adore the flavours of lemon and chicken together. Here, those combined with olives, garlic and fennel are perfect.

Hands-on time 25min. Cooking time about 1hr 5min. Serves 4

 50g plain flour

 1tsp dried oregano

 8 bone-in chicken thighs (skin on)

 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil  1 onion, finely chopped  2 celery sticks, finely chopped  1 fennel bulb, cut into eighths  1 lemon, quartered and cut into 1cm slices

 30g pitted Taggiasche olives, see THEO’S TIP

 4 garlic cloves, peeled  150ml dry white wine  1tbsp honey

 1tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Tip the flour on to a large plate and stir through the dried oregano. Working 1 at a time, coat the chicken thighs in the flour mixture (tap off excess).

2 Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based casserole dish (that has a lid) over high heat. When hot, add the chicken thighs and brown all over. Remove to a plate. Add the onion, celery and fennel to the hot casserole dish. Reduce the heat and cook gently for 5min, then add the lemon slices, olives and garlic. Cook for 1min, then add the wine and honey.

3 Bring to a simmer, then return the chicken thighs to the casserole dish, along with 150ml water. Cover with the lid and cook in the oven for 35min, then remove the lid and cook for 10min more.

4 Sprinkle over the parsley and serve.

PER SERVING 391cals, 35g protein, 16g fat (4g saturates), 18g carbs (7g total sugars), 3g fibre