Harissa Skin-On Chicken Legs with Garden Potato-Courgette Traybake

Ingredients

Method

1. 1Heat the oven to 210°C (190°C fan). Pat the Packington free-range chicken legs thoroughly dry with kitchen paper. If the skin is loose, gently pull it taut over the meat. Season the flesh side lightly with salt and leave skin-side up on a plate while you prep the vegetables — this draws a little surface moisture so the skin crisps better.
2. 2Scrub the homegrown potatoes and cut into 2–3 cm chunks; pat dry so they roast rather than steam. Trim the homegrown courgettes and cut into thick half-moons (about 1.5 cm). Peel and finely grate or crush 3–4 cloves from the Natoora Large Spanish Garlic. Halve the Kalamata olives if large and roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes.
3. 3Tip the potato chunks into a large roasting tin. Drizzle with 1½ tbsp olive oil, scatter over half the grated garlic, 1 tsp smoked paprika and ½ tsp ground cumin, and season with a modest pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper (the olives, sun-dried tomatoes and harissa will add more salt later). Toss until every piece is coated, then spread in a single layer.
4. 4Roast the potatoes alone for 18–20 minutes until the edges are just starting to turn pale gold and the undersides have begun to catch. This head start means they finish crisp rather than soft under the chicken juices.
5. 5Meanwhile make the harissa glaze. In a bowl mix 2 tbsp harissa paste with 1 tbsp olive oil, the finely grated zest of half the Ocado lemon, the remaining grated garlic and a grind of black pepper. Taste the paste — if it is very sharp, stir in up to ½ tsp honey; if already balanced, leave it. No extra salt yet.
6. 6Add the chicken legs to the bowl and turn until every surface is coated in a thin, glossy layer of glaze, working some under the skin where it lifts easily. Keep the skin side as intact as possible so it can crisp.
7. 7Pull the tin from the oven. Scatter the courgette half-moons around the potatoes and nestle the glazed chicken legs on top, skin-side up. Spoon any leftover glaze over the skin. Drizzle the courgettes with the remaining ½ tbsp olive oil. Do not add the olives or sun-dried tomatoes yet.
8. 8Return the tin to the oven and roast for 25 minutes. The chicken skin should begin to deepen in colour and the potatoes should be taking on proper golden edges. If any glaze on the tin looks like it might catch and burn, splash in 1 tbsp water and tilt the tin to loosen it.
9. 9After 25 minutes, scatter the Kalamata olives and chopped sun-dried tomatoes around the chicken and vegetables. Roast for a further 10–15 minutes until the chicken skin is deep mahogany and crisp, a probe thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh (not touching bone) reads at least 75°C, the potatoes are crisp-edged and fluffy inside, and the courgettes are tender with caramelised faces. The olives should look slightly blistered and the sun-dried tomatoes sticky.
10. 10Transfer the chicken legs to a warm plate and tent loosely with foil. Rest for 5 minutes so the juices settle back into the meat — cutting too soon will leave them dry.
11. 11While the chicken rests, set the roasting tin over a low hob flame for 30–60 seconds. Squeeze in the juice of the zested lemon half and scrape the sticky fond and rendered chicken fat with a wooden spoon to make a glossy, spicy pan juice. Taste: it should be punchy from the harissa, savoury from the olives and tomatoes, and bright from the lemon. Add a pinch of salt or more lemon only if needed; cracked black pepper freely.
12. 12Divide the roasted potatoes, courgettes, olives and sun-dried tomatoes between two warm plates. Sit a chicken leg on top of each pile, skin-side up so it stays crisp.
13. 13Spoon the lemony harissa pan juices over the chicken and vegetables. Finish with a final squeeze from the remaining lemon half and an extra grind of black pepper. Serve at once — light enough for a hot Bath evening, with no heavy grain side needed.