This traybake combines chicken marinated in pomegranate molasses with an early spring mix of vegetables; purple sprouting broccoli, Jerusalem artichoke, blood orange and a cheeky sprinkle of pomegranate arils.  The perfect flavour complement to a glass of *Appletiser Apple and Pommegranate.

*This post is commissioned by Appletiser

My squash, fennel and sage chicken traybake last autumn went down a storm, so I decided to do another one, this time with a bounty of early spring produce.  Just as before, this is a super simple recipe.  Full of flavour and completely versatile.

I’m working with Appletiser again this year to bring you a variety of veg heavy seasonal dishes that pair well with their sparking apple drink. This dish is a great pairing for the Appletiser ‘Apple and Pomegranate’ flavour, not only because all these vegetables go well with pomegranate, but also because the chicken is marinated in pomegranate molasses.   Pomegranate molasses has a lovely sweet-sour flavour, and adds a delicious stickiness to the chicken skin.  It used to be a challenge to get hold of, and something you’d have to seek out in a specialist shop.  Thanks to the rise in popularity of Middle Eastern cuisine, you can now find it in most larger supermarkets (well you can in London…), it’s just pomegranate seeds juiced and boiled down to a thick syrup.  Some with, or some without (preferably) added sugar.  You could also make your own too of course…

The veg-spiration for today’s post is purple sprouting broccoli, my vegetable of the fortnight!  I’ve shared a few purple sprouting broccoli recipes here on Natural Kitchen Adventures before; in a gratin side dish with Brussels sprouts and also served with my Hake and Sauce Maltaise.  Purple sprouting broccoli – which I often like to call PSB for short – is such a beautiful veg and one that appears in the UK from February to mid-April each year.  I’d choose this over regular broccoli any chance I could.  You can eat the florets, stalks and leaves – get as much out of these as you can!

Also into the traybake went blood orange and a couple of Jerusalem artichokes.  We’re right at the end of the blood orange season now, and each time I get my hands on some I wonder if this is the last time I’ll be able to for a good 9 months.  Obviously, a standard orange would also be just as good, and a little sweeter; a lemon on the other hand, a little sharper.  Just a couple of Jerusalem artichokes though, partly because that’s all my digestive system can cope with at once, and also all I had left in the fridge, and their inclusion was a bit of an afterthought.  If you don’t have them, they’d be happily replaced with new potatoes.

What would you put in your ultimate traybake?

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Chicken, Purple Sprouting Broccoli & Pomegranate Molasses Traybake

5.0 from 2 reviews

Chicken, Purple Sprouting Broccoli & Pomegranate Molasses Traybake

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

This traybake combines chicken marinated in pomegranate molasses with an early spring mix of vegetables; purple sprouting broccoli, Jerusalem artichoke, blood orange and a cheeky sprinkle of pomegranate arils.

Author: Ceri Jones

Recipe type: Main course

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs / drumsticks
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
• juice of half a lemon
• ½ tablespoon minced thyme leaves
• sea salt and pepper
• 2 Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed clean and sliced in half lengthways
• 150g purple sprouting broccoli, trimmed, leaves separated
• 1 blood orange, sliced into .5 cm rounds
• handful of pomegranate seeds.

Instructions

1. Place the chicken in a medium sized dish suitable for baking in the oven, and pour over the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, thyme, pinch of sea salt and twist pepper, make sure all sides of the chicken are well coated, and transfer to the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
3. After 30 minutes marinating time, place the baking dish with the chicken (skin side up) into the oven. Allow them to cook on their own for 15 minutes, then add in the artichokes, and put the dish back in the oven for another 10 minutes. When that 10 minutes is up turn over the chicken, and using a spoon scoop up any juices from the bottom of the dish and spoon back over the chicken and veg. Now add the purple sprouting broccoli tucked in around the chicken, cook for 5 mins. Finally turn over the chicken so it is skin side up again, and add the blood oranges slices for a final 5 minutes. So that should be 35 minutes in total for the chicken! To check if it is cooked after that time, insert a knife or skewer into the thickest part of the chicken and make sure the juices run clear.
4. Pull the dish out of the oven and sprinkle with some pomegranate seeds.
5. Serve alone, with a green salad, or if extra hungry a plain side dish like cooked rice or quinoa, mashed potato or celeriac puree to soak up the juices.

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Disclaimer:  This post and recipe was commissioned by Appletiser. Thank you for supporting the brands who help make it possible for me to continue developing and sharing recipes on Natural Kitchen Adventures.