One thing that we’ve noticed over the years is that food plays such an important role our in lives and not just for fuel but for entertaining and providing us with fond memories too.
We’ve chatted to some of Ireland’s well-known faces to discover their favourite dishes and meals, be it from their childhood or simply something they like to rustle up at home.
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This week, Paul Flynn, chef and owner of The Tannery Restaurant, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford has shared his recipe for chicken tray bake with sweet potato and curry spices. Renowned for cooking modern Irish food, Paul started out his career in London with Nico Ladenis. Working in all of his restaurants, he later became head chef at 23 at Chez Nico.
The recipe he shared this week is one of Paul’s favourites, taken from his latest cookbook 'Paul Flynn's Family Food'. Everything in this book is made exclusively with Lidl ingredients and is available to buy in-store.
Here in his own words, Paul explains why chicken tray bake with sweet potato and curry spices is one of his favourite dishes to make:
“I always believed that people will cook more if cooking is made simple. We’re all so busy now that time is a huge factor in what we eat. Tray bakes are something that I use at home frequently; they’re simple and smart.
“When I was growing up, virtually everything we got to eat was boiled and the goodness in taste of everything just vanished into the water and was then thrown down the sink. Tray bakes are the opposite: the flavour has nowhere to go but into itself, and the variety of what you can cook is endless. Here are two of my favourite tray bakes: a hearty chicken tray bake and a light summery one. And best of all, being a man (and therefore lazy by nature), there’s only one tray to wash up!”
Chicken tray bake with sweet potato and curry spices
Ingredients - Serves 4
1 large sweet potato, peeled
3 red onions, peeled and quartered
1 packet Bally Manor fresh chicken legs (about 1kg)
1 bulb garlic
2cm knob fresh ginger, peeled and cut into sticks
1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut in to 8 pieces
100ml Primadonna extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp Kania mild curry powder
Freshly cracked Kania salt and pepper
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Cut the sweet potato down the middle lengthways and then slice into 2 cm thick slices. Place them on a roasting tray. Add the onion and the chicken legs. Break up the garlic and add it unpeeled to the tray, removing only the excess outer skin. Add the ginger and red pepper. Drizzle over with olive oil and sprinkle with curry powder, salt and pepper. Turn everything over together to make sure it’s all coated evenly in olive oil and seasoning.
3. Place in the oven and leave to roast for 15 minutes. Then remove and turn everything over to ensure even cooking. Put back into the oven for a further 25 – 35 minutes until the skin on the chicken has turned a nice golden colour and the flesh starts to come away from the bone.
4. Toss everything around in the oil once more before serving and divide between four warmed plates.
Tip: I often serve this dish in the tray on the table and let everyone dig in!
