Name: Crispy chicken thighs with white beans and tomato dressing
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients: 2–3 boneless chicken thighs, skin on; 1 tsp dried oregano; 1 lemon, zest peeled and cut into strips; 4 tbsp olive oil; 1 thick sourdough slice, halved; 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled and lightly crushed; handful pitted green olives, such as nocellara de belice; 570g jar white beans; sea salt; 20g/¾oz fresh basil, leaves torn, to serve; 2–3 beef tomatoes, such as cuore del vesuvio, halved; 2–4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 2 tsp sherry vinegar; fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare: less than 30 mins
Cook: 10 to 30 mins
Serve: Serves 2
Dietary: Dairy-free Egg-free Nut-free

This delicious chicken dish really celebrates the simplicity of good ingredients with summer tomatoes and jarred white beans.

By Ben Lippett

From Saturday Kitchen

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Ingredients

For the crispy chicken thighs

2–3 boneless chicken thighs, skin on
1 tsp dried oregano
1 lemon, zest peeled and cut into strips
4 tbsp olive oil
1 thick sourdough slice, halved
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled and lightly crushed
handful pitted green olives, such as nocellara de belice
570g jar white beans
sea salt
20g/¾oz fresh basil, leaves torn, to serve

For the tomato dressing

2–3 beef tomatoes, such as cuore del vesuvio, halved
2–4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp sherry vinegar
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

To make the chicken, preheat the oven to 230C/210C Fan/Gas 8.
Season the chicken thighs liberally with salt. Flip them over, so they’re skin side down, and season the flesh side with the oregano and a few strips of lemon zest.
Add the olive oil to an oven-proof stainless steel or cast-iron frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chicken, skin side down.
Reduce the heat a little, add a pan weight or smaller pan to the top and allow the skin to render and crisp for 8–10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate to rest.
Add the sourdough and garlic to the pan and sizzle in the oil until the sourdough is beginning to crisp, then flip.
Sit the chicken onto the bread, scatter in the olives and place in the oven for 10–12 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the bread is nice and crisp.
While the chicken roasts, tip the beans into a saucepan with their cooking liquor and set over a medium heat. Bring them up to a bare simmer and then turn off the heat, you want them to be warm, not boiling hot.
To make the tomato dressing, use the coarse side of a box grater to grate the tomatoes into a bowl, leaving behind just the skins.
Season the pulp with plenty of salt and pepper, the olive oil and sherry vinegar.
To serve, drain the beans and spoon into shallow bowls.
Liberally spoon over the tomato dressing, carve the chicken into strips and sit over the top.
Dress with the garlicky chicken oil and tear the basil over top. Serve the roasted chicken sourdough on the side.