Madhouse recipe : Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tray Bake

You can't beat a tray bake when you need a quick, stress-free dinner, firstly because everything cooks together so there's no faffing around with side dishes and secondly, because it creates very little washing up. This created beautifully cooked, juicy chicken and there were clean plates all round. 

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tray Bake

ingredients:

5 chicken breasts

drizzle of olive oil

1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan

salt, pepper

1tsp garlic granules

500g baby potatoes

vegetables of your choice (courgette, squash, broccoli, sweet potato, red peppers ...)

Put the breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt, pepper and garlic granules in a bowl and mix.

Cut the chicken breasts into halves and toss them in the bowl until perfectly coated. If the coating has a hard time sticking to the chicken, you could first dip the chicken in melted butter, olive oil or a beaten egg. Lay on a baking tray.

Put the baby potatoes in a separate bowl, drizzle with olive oil, toss to coat them in oil, then add them to the parmesan bowl and throw them around to coat them. Scatter the potatoes around the chicken on the baking tray.

Depending on the vegetables that you use, you may want to parboil them or precook them in the microwave so that they cook in the same time as the chicken. The same goes for the potatoes in the previous step, especially if using regular potatoes chopped into chunks. This is also a great way of using up leftover cooked vegetables and potatoes after the Sunday roast. As with the potatoes, chop the vegetables into chunks, put them in a bowl, drizzle with oil, toss them then add to the parmesan coating bowl. Toss them around and then lay them in amongst the chicken and potatoes on the baking sheet. Scatter over any remaining parmesan mixture.

Cook for about 40 minutes at 180° until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are soft when stabbed with a sharp knife.

We loved the chicken and potatoes but the kids turned their noses up at the courgettes because they went a bit soggy. I think I'll try with sweet potato or broccoli next time.