Lemon and Oregano Chicken Traybake

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs, skin on
• 500 g new potato
• 100 g bacon lardon
• 8 shallots
• 5 oregano sprigs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 lemons
• 200 ml chicken stock
• 100 ml white wine

Method

Heat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C). This is your roasting temperature—hot enough to drive colour and render the chicken skin, but not so fierce that the stock reduces before the meat cooks through. Start the potatoes alone on a large tray with half the oil, salt, and pepper. They need a 20-minute head start; the starch on their cut surface will begin to caramelise, giving you an anchor of texture before the wet ingredients hit.

While the potatoes colour, prepare the poultry. Pat the chicken thighs dry—moisture is the enemy of browning. Season both sides aggressively; the skin will draw salt inward as the heat renders the fat. Halve the shallots lengthways (keeping the root end intact so they don't collapse), then quarter the lemons. When the potatoes are starting to crisp at the edges, pull the tray and scatter the chicken thighs skin-side up across it. Tuck the shallots and lardons into the gaps—the bacon fat will season the potatoes beneath. Drizzle the remaining oil over the chicken skin only; the rest will come from the fat rendering out. Return to the oven for 20 minutes. You're looking for the thighs to have taken on light golden colour and begun to release juice into the tray's base.

Pour the stock and wine directly onto the tray, aiming for the liquid around the edges rather than over the skin (you want that skin to stay dry and crisp through the final cook). Scatter the oregano sprigs across the surface—they'll infuse the liquid and perfume the chicken. Return for a final 20 minutes. The chicken is done when the thigh meat pulls easily from the bone and the internal temperature at the thickest point reads 75°C; the stock will have reduced slightly and taken on colour from the chicken and bacon. The potatoes should be completely tender, almost melting where they've absorbed the braise beneath them.

This is a true one-pot-cooking|one-pot finish—fish the mediterranean-cuisine|Mediterranean way with what's in front of you. Serve the whole tray with the stock spooned over, letting the acid from the lemon balance the richness of rendered fat and wine reduction. A bitter leaf salad cuts through if you need it; the dish is complete as it stands.