Summer-y Spanish-y Chicken & Chorizo

Remember the summer of 2012? Me neither.

Hard as it is to believe now, there was a day, maybe, oh, a month ago now, that we had sun.

Not much mind you, but enough to make it warm, somewhat cheerful, and most importantly, have me hankering after summer food.  I wanted something flavourful but simple, to eat with crusty bread in the back garden.  For the oh-too-brief Irish summer’s day.

So I made this. Spanish-y chicken.

Whilst admittedly a completely made-up dish, it’s a very cheap one, using the low-cost cuts of chicken and that budget-foodie’s staple – chorizo.   The simple ingredients marry together to make an ordinary dish burst with flavour, perfect with fresh crusty bread and a glass of Rioja.

 Ingredients

• 6 Chicken Thighs
• 4 large cooking Chorizo sausages, cut into inch-thick cubes
• 1 red onion, cut into wedges
• 1 lemon, cut into quarters
• 10 baby potatoes, cut in half
• ¾ whole green chillies
• ½ glass red wine
• 2tsp  smoked paprika
• ½ tsp oregano
• 1 tsp black pepper, freshly milled
• Pinch salt
• Pinch chilli flakes
• 1 glug olive oil

 Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C and drizzle olive oil on a large baking tray with a little lip on it /shallow casserole dish. (If you find that there are too many ingredients for any trays in your kitchen, simply use two trays instead)

2. Toss chicken thighs in all herbs and spices and arrange on the baking tray, skin side up.

3. Add potatoes, vegetables and chorizo

4. Drizzle olive oil over the whole lot, shake to ensure evenly distributed and pop into the oven for about 20-30 minutes, removing once to  add  the glass of wine and give the tray a good ol’ shake again. The addition of the wine gives the dinner a beautiful flavoursome syrupy base which makes the most exquisite dipping sauce for that afore-mentioned crusty bread.

Now all I need is the sun back again.