One of our all-time favourites from the first Beyond Baked Beans book. Quick and easy to prepare then just leave it to cook

Serves 4
Time: just over an hour
Cost: £1.25-£1.50 a head

4 medium to large potatoes (about 600-700g)
2-3 tbsp olive oil + a little soft butter
1 large lemon, preferably unwaxed
2-3 cloves of garlic
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme or 1 tsp dried oregano
4 chicken quarters (about 1 kg in total) or 1 kg chicken thighs and drumsticks
Salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 200 C/400 F/Gas 6

Peel and cut the potatoes into thick slices (slightly thicker than a £1 piece). Generously smear a roasting tin with soft butter or olive oil and lay the potato slices in a single layer over the base. Season with salt and pepper. Cut half the lemon into thin slices, halve them and lay the pieces over the potatoes. Peel and finely slice the garlic and strip the leaves from the rosemary and scatter them both over the top. Pour over a couple of tablespoons of water.
Cut any loose bits of skin off the chicken pieces and lay them skin side downwards over the potatoes. Squeeze the juice from the remaining half of the lemon over the chicken, drizzle over a tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for half an hour then turn the chicken pieces over, spoon the pan juices over them and season again with salt and pepper. Turn the oven down to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 and continue to cook for about 25-30 minutes until the chicken is well browned and the potato cooked through. (Spoon off a couple of tablespoons of the cooking juices about 10 minutes before the chicken is ready to crisp the potatoes up) Fish out the lemon slices when you serve up. This tastes good with any green vegetable, especially broccoli, spinach and beans or with a salad.

 

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