Piri Piri Chicken, Dressed Potatoes, Rocket Salad and Quick Portuguese Tarts

By Jamie Oliver

Ingredients

Chicken:

  • 4 large chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 6 sprigs of fresh thyme

Potatoes:

  • 1 medium potato
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • ½ a lemon
  • 1 fresh red chilli
  • A bunch of fresh coriander

Piri Piri sauce:

  • 1 red onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1–2 bird’s-eye chillies
  • 2 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 2 lemons
  • 4 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • A large bunch of fresh basil

Salad:

  • 1 x 100g bag of prewashed wild rocket
  • ½ a lemon

Seasonings:

  • Olive oil
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt & black pepper

Tarts:

  • Plain flour, for dusting
  • 1 x 375g pack of pre-rolled puff pastry
  • Ground cinnamon
  • 125g crème fraîche
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract
  • 5 tbsp golden caster sugar
  • 1 orange

Preparation

To start: Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Turn the oven on to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Put a large griddle pan on a high heat.

Chicken: Put the chicken thighs on a plastic chopping board, skin side down, and slash the meat on each one a few times. Drizzle with olive oil and season, then put on the griddle pan that is heating up, skin side down. Cook until golden underneath, then turn over. Wash your hands.

Tarts: Dust a clean surface with flour. Unroll the sheet of pastry, then cut it in half so you end up with two 20 x 20cm squares of pastry (put one in the fridge for another day). Sprinkle over a few good pinches of ground cinnamon, then roll the pastry into a Swiss roll shape and cut into 6 rounds. Put these into 6 of the holes in a muffin tin, and use your thumbs to stretch and mould the pastry into the holes (just like in the picture) so the bottom is flat and the pastry comes up to the top. Put on the top shelf of the oven and cook for around 8 to 10 minutes (set the timer), or until lightly golden.

Potatoes: Wash the potato and sweet potatoes and halve lengthways. Put them into a large microwave-safe bowl with ½ a lemon. Cover with clingfilm and put into the microwave on full power for 15 minutes.

Chicken: Turn the chicken over.

Tarts: Spoon the crème fraîche into a small bowl. Add the egg, vanilla paste or extract, 1 tablespoon of golden caster sugar and the zest of 1 orange. Mix well.

Piri Piri sauce: Peel and roughly chop the red onion and add to the liquidizer with 4 peeled cloves of garlic. Add the chilies (stalks removed), 2  tablespoons of paprika, the zest of 2 lemons and juice of 1 lemon. Add 4 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, a good pinch of salt & pepper, the bunch of basil and a swig of water. Blitz until smooth.

Chicken: Slice the peppers into strips and add to the griddle pan. Turn the heat down to medium and keep moving the peppers around.

Tarts: Take the muffin tin out of the oven, and use a teaspoon to press the puffed up pastry back to the sides and make room for the filling. Spoon the crème fraîche mixture into the tart cases, and return to the top shelf of the oven. Set the timer for 8 minutes.

Chicken: Pour the piri piri sauce into a snug-fitting roasting tray. Lay the peppers on top and put aside. Add the chicken to the roasting tray with the sauce. Scatter over the sprigs of thyme, then put the tray into the middle of the oven.

Tarts: Put a small saucepan on a high heat. Squeeze in the juice from the zested orange and add 4 tablespoons of golden caster sugar. Stir and keep a good eye on it, but remember caramel can burn badly so don’t touch or taste.

Potatoes: Finely chop the red chili and most of the coriander on a board, mixing as you go. Add the feta and keep chopping and mixing.

Chicken: Take the tarts out of the oven and move the chicken up to the top shelf to cook for around 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Tarts: Pour some caramel over each tart (they’ll still be wobbly, but that’s good). Put aside to set.

Salad: Quickly dress the rocket, still in its bag, with extra virgin olive oil, a good pinch of salt & pepper and the juice of ½ a lemon. Tip into a bowl and take to the table.

Potatoes: Check the potatoes are cooked through, then use tongs to squeeze over the cooked lemon. Add the coriander mixture from the chopping board and mix everything together. Season, then take to the table.

To serve: Get the tray of chicken out of the oven, sprinkle over a few coriander leaves and take straight to the table.

Recipe link: https://www.cbc.ca/life/jamieoliver/recipes/jamie-oliver-s-30-minute-meals-piri-piri-chicken-dressed-potatoes-rocket-salad-quick-portuguese-tarts-1.5135446