Madhouse recipe : Bacon & Tomato Chicken Tray Bake

Here's another recipe that is easy to throw together and can be made with whatever you have in your confinement kitchen. We were on the end of the week and had very few veggies left, so feel free to add a side serving of something green - green beans maybe? Salad? I'd love to add extra onions and mushrooms too, or maybe throw in a tin of red kidney beans, ... well, just do the best with whatever you have in your kitchen ! This was inspired by a recipe for Amatriciana Chicken Tray Bake from the BBC Good Food website.

Bacon & Tomato Chicken Tray Bake

ingredients :

serves 4

4 chicken thighs

3tbsp tomato purée

3tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed (or I used 1tsp garlic puree)

1 long red chilli (optional - I left it out)

about 500g potatoes (new potatoes or regular potatoes, halved or quartered)

200g bacon lardons (or chopped bacon)

400g cherry tomatoes (or regular tomatoes, halved)

sprinkle of Italian seasoning (or thyme, basil, whatever you have !)

salt, pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put the tomato puree, garlic (or garlic puree), chilli (if using) and olive oil in a bowl and mix. (I will admit it, I forgot to add the olive oil, but it was still fine !)

Lay the chicken thighs in a single layer in a roasting tray. Spread the tomato/garlic paste over each thigh. Scatter the potatoes around the chicken thighs, season with salt and pepper, plus thyme/Italian seasoning if using, mix it all together with your hands then put it in the oven for half an hour.

Take it out of the oven and add the bacon pieces and cherry tomatoes. Mix it all up again, making sure it is all nicely spread out in one layer. According to the original recipe, the bacon needs 30 minutes and the tomatoes need 15, but I added them both at the same time and left it for 20 minutes.

Serve it all from the pan - the chicken and the potatoes on the bottom, the bacon and tomatoes on top, then all of that scrummy sauce. Don't be ashamed to mop up the juices with some crusty bread (or even sliced white if it's what you're down to !)

Even the kids said this was delicious - bonus !

I've started up the #KitchenClearout linky again, if you want to share your confinement recipes and give us ideas of simple things to throw together with whatever you have at home. Head on over to see what everyone has been linking up !