rosemary, olive and lemon chicken recipe

A delicious take on the classic Sunday roast. Try this for your next family meal – it's so simple!

Serves 5-6

• 8 chicken thighs
• juice of 3 lemons
• leaves of 4 sprigs of rosemary (or 1 heaped tablespoon), coarsely chopped, plus a sprig or two for adding whole
• salt and black pepper
• 1kg waxy potatoes, such as Ratte, Belle de Fontenay or Charlotte, peeled and quartered longways
• 15 Kalamata black olives
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.

Lay the chicken thighs out in a baking tray. Pour half the lemon juice over the chicken. Sprinkle with some of the chopped rosemary, salt and pepper.

Part boil potatoes until almost soft, take out of saucepan, then crush them with a heavyweight masher.

Add the olives, pour on the rest of the lemon juice and then sprinkle more rosemary over the potatoes. Using your hands, turn the potatoes to make sure they're coated well in the herbs and lemon juice.

Pour over the olive oil and add the whole sprigs of rosemary, plus a cup of water, and cook for 1½ hours in the preheated oven.

When the chicken is cooked, remove it and allow it to rest while you turn up the heat to crisp up the potatoes in a very hot (220°C/gas mark 7) oven for 15 minutes.

This recipe featured in Sarah's 2013 Diary.