Chicken and Sausage Bake

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The idea for this dish came from a Jamie Oliver recipe from several years ago. Well ... okay, from TWO Jamie Oliver recipes, mashed up to make this delicious, simple, one pan dinner. Think of it - chicken thighs and sweet Italian sausages, roasting on top of a bed of tomatoes and potatoes. As the juices simmer out of the meats, as the tomatoes stew and liquefy, the potatoes are there to soak up all of the flavors! The red wine vinegar gives it all a really good acidic punch, and at the end of the roasting, the pan should have a delicious sauce you can spoon out on top of the meat and potatoes, or sop up with a hunk of crusty bread.

The joy of this dish is its mostly hands-off cooking. Aside from prepping the potatoes, this is mostly a set it and forget it kind of meal. It makes enough for a small army, so keep that in mind when cooking for one. Hahaha just kidding! Who would cook such a huge amount of food for one person? Don't be silly.

Thanks to Kenji and Cyndi for hosting me and letting me experiment with this one. And for purchasing all of the wine...



Ingredients:

  • cooking oil (pick one with a high smoke point, like vegetable, peanut, or coconut)
  • 2-3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 5-6 sausages (I went with sweet Italian)
  • 2 lbs cherry or grape tomatoes
  • 2 lbs waxy potatoes (new or red-skinned)
  • fresh oregano
  • fresh thyme
  • fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper
To Prepare:
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a large pot, boil the potatoes until fully cooked. The potatoes are ready when they are easily pierced through with a fork. When finished, drain the potatoes and allow to cool.
  3. Rinse your chicken thighs and then pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. In a large pan, bring oil to high heat.  Brown your chicken thighs, skin side down, until the skin becomes golden and crispy; approx. 7 minutes.  Flip the chicken and briefly cook the other side, about 2 minutes. Cook the chicken in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.
  5. As the chicken browns, cut your potatoes in half lengthwise to provide as much surface area as possible.
  6. To begin your pan assembly, in a large roasting pan, place all of your tomatoes and all of your potatoes. Make sure the potatoes are flat-side-down in the pan.
  7. Generously add the herbs to the tomatoes and potatoes, using several sprigs of each. Salt and pepper the vegetables generously. Add the vinegar to the vegetables as well, tossing to evenly distribute.
  8. Now add the sausages and browned chicken thighs on top of the bed of seasoned vegetables. Place the entire pan in the oven. After 30 minutes, flip the sausages and return the pan to the oven for another 20-30 minutes, depending on how brown you want the sausages.

  9. Serve the meats and veggies with a spoonful of the pan sauce with a side salad and a big old glass of wine!


Et voila! Bon appetit!

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