Chicken with Chick Peas, Tomatoes, and Chorizo
You all know that I’m kind of a stubborn gal. Trends of all kinds send me in the opposite direction. I did love bell bottoms, but I was young and silly then. I will never get long pointy fingernails that seems de rigeur these days. I’m too practical. Besides I’d mostly like slice my eyeballs.
When it comes to food, I’m the same, although I’m the first to admit that I’ve been wrong. I married a guy with an orange crock pot. Never used it. Now they’re called slow cookers. I bought one and use it. Pesto and sun-dried tomatoes were on every menu in the 80’s, so none for me. Very silly. And then there was cauliflower rice. Made my eyes roll, but the recipe I made was really good! Bowls? Why does food have to be in bowls? I’ll never have an instapot, but that’s mostly cause I don’t need anything insta anymore with no kids at home.
Which brings me to when I first started noticing tray bakes and sheet pan bakes and the sort. Even my beloved Nigella put food baked in a jelly roll pan on Instagram. Really? A jelly roll pan is just a shallow baking dish!!!
Once again, I broke down once I saw the cookbook, The Roasting Tin, by Rukmini Iyer. It’s “simple one dish dinners.” Which I’m assuming are different than one pot dinners?!! Sorry, I can’t help myself.
The Roasting Tin, below left, was published in 2017, followed in 2018 by The Green Roasting Tin.
To be fair, I bookmarked a number of good sounding recipes in the cookbook. The recipes are easy and I trust that the main ingredients come out of the oven all cooked properly, because the authors seems quite popular. One pot tray-bake meals do cut out any preliminary steps like sautéing or browning or par-boiling.
This is the recipe I chose to make first.
Chicken with Chorizo, Chick Peas, and Tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
100 grams or 3.5 ounces chorizo, roughly chopped
1 – 400 gram tin of chickpeas, drained
1 – 400 grams or 14 ounce tin of tomatoes
300 milliliter or 10 ounces water
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1.4 kilograms or 3 pounds chicken thighs
1 tablespoon olive oil
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F. Place the onion, garlic, rosemary, chorizo, chickpeas and tomatoes in a roasting tin, and use the water to rinse out the tomato tin before pouring it in with everything else. Season well with salt and pepper.
Arrange the chicken thighs over the tomato mixture, and rub with the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, then transfer to the oven and roast for 40 minutes.
Turn the heat up to 200 degrees C or 400 degrees F and roast for a further 50 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through.
Taste the sauce, season as needed with salt and black pepper, and serve hot.
So, have I ever in my million years of cooking thrown purple onions in with sweet potatoes when roasting? Sure. Have I ever cooked chicken and sausages in the same roasting pan? Of course.
However, this book does have some unique ideas, and I can’t deny the fact that it is fun to cook a whole meal in a “tray” with minimal preparation and mess!
Although if you noticed, I did use a roasting pan. My jelly-roll pans warp when they’re in the oven, which would have created a terrible mess.
I’m sure the author will forgive me for not using a tray.
This I will try as it sounds delish.
I have to say it was very tasty!
I have an orange crock pot and use it frequently. The latest dish was oxtail and that was yesterday.
Well, now they’re considered vintage I imagine!
Sometimes, Mimi, I think we have been on the same page all our lives. Me, the bell bottoms, as well. (Although mine were flares…) And no crock pot still, although I borrow my neighbor’s all the time. (That is a special kind of denial, I am sure.) No insta-pot for me, either. And I have thought the same thing about sheet-pan dinners, but found myself knee-deep in them thanks to Ottolenghi, although his are a bit more complicated. This one looks fantastic. One question, though (since I do plan to make it) – did you use canned chickpea? And how much? I see them in the photo but not in the recipe. Thanks! xo
Ooops. Thank you so much for noticing that omission. It was one can, and I actually used the can’s liquid as part of the water amount listed in the recipe. I’m thinking Ottolenghi does post a lot of “sheet pan” meals on Instagram. Oh well. I’m just fine with baking or roasting pans! It’s okay to be stubborn and obstinate when you’re my age!!!
Ha! Don’t you mean when you’re “our” age? Yep, I use my nice roasting pan all the time. My sheet pans warp at high temps!
Thanks for the chickpea info! And why waste that liquid? D
Well do you know it’s called aquafaba? It’s actually purposely used, maybe to replace egg whites in vegan dishes? They were talking about it on Milk Street radio, but I didn’t pay much attention because I’m thankfully not vegan. I wish they’d make sheet pans that don’t warp…
I like one pan meals, whether a casserole, sheet pan, foil pan on the grill, crock pot (no insta-pot for me either). I’m not a chickpea fan ( I see someone else mentioned you did not include them in the ingredient list). Your library of cookbooks must be as big as mine – I have them all over the place. The recipe sounds tasty – love rosemary and spicy chorizo!
Oops, I hadn’t read that. Thanks! I do have a lot of cookbooks, and I’ll never stop buying them!!! 😬
This looks fabulous, Mimi! I’m a little wary of some sheet pan dinners because I’m not convinced they will turn out so well. But this one looks delicious and saucy!
Exactly. But this one turned out wonderfully. The cooking time was really long, also, but the chicken thighs turned out well.
Looks delicious, though I too don’t see how different is made by using a try rather than a roasting pan. :)
Well, me neither. In fact, I prefer the depth of a roasting pan.
Same here!
It was easy and very good!
Mimi – this tray-bake looks and sounds so delicious and satisfying! I love anything with chickpeas, and, well you have sausage and chicken in it too, so my goodness, I’m going to put it on my list of “must-make”s! I agree with you, though this is better In casserole-type dish than a sheet pan. De-lish!
I love chick peas as well, more as individual legumes than puréed however. It’s such a good and healthy throw-in ingredient!
Right?!!! And actually I love octopus, but I’m stubborn about culinary trends. And seriously, I should really embrace all progressive things, being me!!! So it’s truly silly!
I find using a roasting pan, or deep casserole dish is far easier than a baking tin. At least you can serve it at the table in the same dish you cooked it in. This looks like my kind of meal :)
Well that’s a really good point. It’s just a trend, and maybe food stylists started it? Because food arranged on a “tray” can look really beautiful. Not when I photograph it, but those others!!!
One does see a lot of “one pan” meal recipes around these days. Like you, Mimi, I use a shallow baking dish. We don’t have a slow cooker and I loved flared jeans (or navy jeans as my dad called them). I do however have an electric pressure cooker that cooks amazing rice, potatoes, an such. Me, I think your Chicken with Chick Peas, Tomatoes, and Chorizo would taste divine whatever the cooking method.
Well I was just pleasantly surprised that the dish turned out so well, especially with the amount of cooking. I tried a pressure cooker once, with beans, and it failed me. Maybe I should get it out and try again. It’s a time-saving gadget, and that’s not an issue for me, especially these days.
Love this combo, Mimi!! So hearty and so much flavour, especially with the addition of chorizo. All I’d need with this is a big hunk of bread for dunking in that sauce :)
Right. That was tasty sauce!
I don’t think you can go wrong with that combination!
This looks wonderful. But I’m (generally) with you on baking sheet “meals”. It seems most of them having you pull the tray in and out of the oven adding ingredients at different times so that they all come out perfectly cooked. Fair enough. I want it all cooked properly as much as the next guy. Still it just seems easier to me to get it all together in a more traditional way and clean as I go. But I could be wrong… GREG
I really like Rukmini’s books, just the job when you’ve had a long day but still want something good to eat. She’s got a third ‘roasting tin’ book out now. And as an aside, I’m with you on the talons, I’d poke my eye out too. Made me laugh. Have a great week. Lx
Maybe it was you who first posted on one of her books? It was someone from the UK, but I never think to jot such things down for future reference. If it was, thank you!
Can’t remember! I did post on Instagram. If it was me, you’re welcome! :)
Pointy fingernails – LOL. Not only unfriendly to eyes but, being a gardener, they wouldn’t last more than half a day. I still have yet to make a sheet pan meal myself but this one appeals to me because my husband loves chorizo. Sounds delicious!
No, exactly! I keep mine so short. Long fingernails can really be pretty, but not for me! But I don’t get the super pointy ones popular now. Scary looking!
I keep scratching my head over the whole sheet pan dinner craze. I’m all for easy, but not sure this concept is actually easier than just going ahead and making the dish the way you normally would. One of these days I’ll try one, I’m sure, and this one looks particularly good. Thanks!
There are always ways to make cooking faster, especially with appliances, but even when I was at my busiest, cooking good food was always my priority, and I just planned way ahead of time. It certainly doesn’t take much to sauté onion. But at least this recipe came out well!
Sounds delicious, like an improved version of Spanish chickpeas with chorizo but with chicken too! I love one-pan/pot (though I’ve never tried it on a baking tray!) meals and actually transform most of the time cooked or fried vegetable recipes, adding some protein.
By the way, if one eats often with chopsticks, bowls are much more convenient (especially noodle and rice-based dishes!).
Is that what started the bowl trend? Thanks for telling me! Although I see a lot with corn and chick peas and avocados… But the chopsticks thing makes sense.
One pan meals are the best!! I love using chicken thighs too so going to have to try this asap. And so perfect for an easy weeknight dinner :)
It was certainly easy, and the chicken came out nice and moist.
I don’t have an insta pot and I seldom use my slow cooker. Your recipe looks great, I love all the flavors. I made your pistachio feta spread last night and liked it very much. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh I almost forgot about that! Thanks for reminding ! That was a great recipe. I rarely use my slow cooker either. I have one that you can “supposedly” brown food in on the stove, but it didn’t work well at all, so I haven’t bothered since that one attempt.
Yes, I can see that not having to cook the onions and garlic beforehand would save on time. However, I would still need to brown (sear) the skin of the chicken pieces before placing all the ingredients in the one tray. I guess you can’t “teach an old dog new tricks”! (However, I did manage to give away all my old bell bottom pants years ago)!
I know, sautéing and browning are such important parts of cooking! And I’m an even older dog! Good choice on the bell bottoms 🤪
I’m definitely on the same page when it comes to food trends. Although I do find a lot of use for my electric pressure cooker (not an Instapot but same idea) I got started with pressure cooking long before it was “cool”. And I just tried cauliflower pizza, something I would never have done on my own. My niece is staying with us for a few weeks and wanted us to try some “millennium food”. It was… interesting.
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Millennium food. Love it. Cauliflower rice was fine but the name pisses me off! Just call it riced cauliflower!
Recipe sounds lovely. I’m a bit like you and I cook what I like how I like!
Trends can be silly!
Mimi, are the cooking times accurate? 40 minutes plus 50 minutes seems like a long time to roast chicken thighs. Anyway, this looks delicious. And I think it would be too soupy for a sheet pan.
Yes. Isn’t that crazy? but it worked. Probably because there was so much in the pan.
You gave me a real laugh with this post Mimi. It sounds like we are alike when it comes to “millennium food” as Frank called it. I don’t get the bowl and sheet pan trends…this old dog is sticking to more traditional ways of cooking. I think using a casserole dish makes since but no matter how it is cooked, the flavors sound great.
It is kind of millennium, isn’t it?🤣 I’m too old to change, myself.
Amen, sister. I was thinking of some innovative recipes where I make trendy “bowl” recipes, but I serve them on a plate!
And why wouldn’t you? They’re not soups!!! I was teasing my cauliflower rice gal, Domesticate-Me about that and using bowls vs. plates. She probably thought i was nuts. Maybe if I was a food stylist I’d be more into bowls…
I think you nailed it – it’s about sheer trendiness.
Haha! I totally know what you mean, Mimi. I don’t own an instapot, either, and I have no desire to get one. (I’m pretty sure we’re the only 2 bloggers who don’t own one!) I do love my slow cooker, though. :-) And you totally made me chuckle about the jelly roll pan vs. shallow baking dish. It really is the same thing! No matter what you use, this recipe does sound quite tasty!
It is a great recipe, and I was pleasantly surprised that it all came out well cooked. Even when my kids were little I cooked a lot, and didn’t take shortcuts, probably much like you. Of course you’re motivated by your blog as well, but I just believe in good cooking. Loved those cookies of yours!
It looks gorgeous! Great hint about the roasting pan, too. I have one sheet pan that’s super heavy and it’s the only one that won’t spring up on one corner when I use high heat, I have no idea where I got it, and never found another like it.
I would make this with the chickpeas from my Instant Pot, lol!! I never would have gotten one had my sister not talked me into it – and the funny thing is my sister has yet to use hers!! Crazy, huh? I didn’t even realize they were all the rage, because I’m not one for trends, either. I’ve always had a stovetop pressure cooker for as long as I can remember so it wasn’t a big leap. .
Does your sheet pan have a brand name on it anywhere? I’m so curious. It’s been a real problem for me, also with cookie sheets. I’ve bought the best from Williams-Sonoma. I’m sure insta pots are great, and they’re certainly handy if you’re a young busy mom i think, but that’s not my lifestyle any longer.
My Mom bought my sister and I our first stovetop pressure cookers bak in the 1980’s for that reason!
I just checked my sheet pan and there are no markings at all that I could see. I’ve had it for decades.
Ha ha you’re funny! But truly, I agree with it all. They are just trends. Besides, I have no more room in my kitchen since we’ve downsized and I ain’t complaining. I have a similar recipe from Lebanon and we love it. Yours does look wonderful!
And it did all turn out well cooked. I have this thing against overcooked meat of any kind.