I love cooking and I love eating. But I loathe washing up.
Something no body told me when I decided to become a chef is that you spend a large portion of your time up to your elbows in soapy water scrubbing dishes. Like Cinderella.
So, I LOVE it when you can pop everything into one pan and then there is only one thing to wash up at the end. Not only does this Chicken dish appeal to the Cinderella in me, but it is also absolutely scrummy. It’s also not laden with carbs, and will leave you feeling lovely and full but not bloated. Winning dish.
- 4 chicken thighs
- 2 cans of lentils
- 100g cubed pancetta
- handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 clove garlic crushed,
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- handful of chopped parsley
- First things first. Preheat that oven to 220C (200 C Fan, Gas Mark 8).
- Now take a baking tray. If you have a pretty one like this - you can plonk it on the table when it's cooked and people can help themselves.
- Drain the lentils and then pour them into the baking tray.
- Scatter the halved tomatoes onto the lentils and then add the crushed garlic and give the whole thing a really good stir.
- Now, pop your chicken thighs on top of the lentil bed. Then scatter the pancetta on top of the lentils, around the chicken. You want the pancetta to be on the top so that it has a chance to go lovely and crispy.
- Give the whole thing a good glug of olive oil and sprinkle with a salt (careful, the pancetta is salty) and pepper.
- Pop into the hot oven and cook for a good 45 mins until the chicken skin is lovely and crispy and the chicken is cooked through. It's a good idea to give it a bit of a stir half way through to check that the lentils are not browning too much.
- Sprinkle on the chopped parsley and serve with a fresh green salad and a generous dollop of mayo.