Baked lemon chicken on ricotta and pea purée
Ingredients
- 1 onion, quartered
- 4 garlic cloves
- 15ml fennel seeds
- 3 fresh bay leaves, finely sliced
- 1 lemon thyme sprig, chopped
- 1 rosemary sprig, chopped
- bunch of parsley, chopped
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 6 chicken drumsticks and 6 thighs
- 2 lemons, thickly sliced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 30ml olive oil
RICOTTA AND PEA PURÉE
- 1 garlic bulb, roasted
- 500ml frozen or fresh peas, blanched
- 200g ricotta
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Toss the onion, garlic, fennel seeds, herbs, lemon zest and juice together in a blender and blitz until smooth.
Marinate the chicken in the paste for about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Place the lemon slices in the bottom of a roasting tray and top with the marinated chicken pieces. Season, drizzle with the olive oil and bake for about 2 hours. If the paste looks like it is browning too quickly, place a little foil loosely over the chicken pieces and continue cooking.
To make the purée, wrap the garlic bulb in a little foil and roast until it is fragrant and soft, about 30 – 45 minutes. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb and place the garlic in a blender with the peas and ricotta. Blitz until smooth, and season.
Place the purée in an ovenproof dish and warm it through in the oven.
Serve the chicken pieces with a dollop of purée and a drizzle of the pan juices.
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
