Crisp-skinned chicken over sticky, spiced carrots, with cool minted yoghurt to cut through. One tray, about 50 minutes, mostly hands off.
Bunched carrots from Tim Paget and Sons, Wiltshire. Bunched carrots are sweet enough to roast whole. Honey and cumin push the edges towards caramel. They roast under the chicken, so they cook in the fat that runs off the thighs.
Serves 2 · Prep 10 min · Cook 45 min
You'll need
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 bunch of carrots, scrubbed, tops trimmed to 2cm, halved lengthways if thick
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 lemon
- 150g Greek yoghurt
- 1 small handful of mint, leaves chopped
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- salt and black pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan). Pat the chicken dry and season the skin well with salt. Dry skin is what crisps.
- Toss the carrots in a roasting tin with the olive oil, cumin seeds, a pinch of salt and pepper. Sit the chicken on top, skin side up, so the fat drips onto the carrots.
- Roast for 35 minutes, until the skin is deep golden and the carrots are starting to char at the tips.
- Lift the chicken onto a plate. Drizzle the honey and a squeeze of lemon over the carrots, toss, then put the chicken back on top and roast for another 8 to 10 minutes. The chicken is done when the thickest part reaches 70°C on a probe, or the juices run clear with no pink by the bone.
- While it finishes, stir the yoghurt with the mint, garlic, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt.
- Rest the chicken for 5 minutes. Serve on the carrots with the tray juices spooned over and the minted yoghurt alongside. Taste the carrots: a little more lemon if they are too sweet.
Serve with: warm flatbreads or buttered couscous, to catch the juices.
No chicken? Use a tin of chickpeas, drained and dried, roasted on the carrots for the last 20 minutes, with a crumble of feta at the end.
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