Meliz Berg's Cypriot chicken tray bake
Meliz is back in the kitchen with a simple supper to kickstart the week.
Her chicken, potato & tomato tray bake was a weekly staple in her family kitchen growing up, packed with Turkish-Cypriot flavours, it's a classic one tray dinner. So sit back and let the oven do the work!
Cypriot chicken traybake
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
2 tbsp tomato puree
200ml boiling water
6 tbsp olive oil
4 onions, peeled and quartered
750g Cyprus or Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and halved
8-10 large high-welfare chicken thighs and/or drumsticks
6 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp pul biber
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
400g can chopped tomatoes
400ml cold water
3 bay leaves
1 unwaxed lemon, halved
Method
1) Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.
2) Dissolve the stock cube and tomato puree in the boiling water in a heatproof jug and leave to one side.
3) Drizzle two tablespoons of the olive oil into a deep baking tray, then add the onions, potatoes, chicken and garlic to the tray. Sprinkle over the dried oregano, spices, salt, pepper and parsley. Give everything a gentle stir so that the chicken and vegetables are fully coated in the oily spices.
4) Pour the chopped tomatoes into the baking tray, then fill up the can with cold water; top up the dissolved stock and tomato puree with enough water from the can to take the total amount of liquid up to 600ml, give it a stir and pour this into the baking tray as well. Add the bay leaves and the lemon halves, drizzle over another 3 tablespoons of the olive oil (save a little for the last 30 minutes of cooking), cover with foil and place the baking tray on the bottom shelf of the oven.
5) After 35-40 minutes remove the baking tray from the oven, take off the foil, turn the chicken over, baste the potatoes and return to the oven without the foil. After another 25-30 minutes, remove again, turn the chicken over, basting the potatoes in the juices, drizzle everything with the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil and return to the oven for a final 25-30 minutes.
6) Remove from the oven, allow to rest for 5 minutes, then serve with a liberal pouring of the thick basting juices and onions, accompanied by a fresh salad, and in true Cypriot style, rice and thick natural set yoghurt.