Chicken with Feta Cheese, Dill, Lemon & Harissa Yogurt

All the dishes in this chapter are made with chicken thighs, because I unashamedly love them. They’re succulent—so much better than breasts, which can dry out, in fact it’s hard to overcook chicken thighs—they all cook at the same time (and quickly), and there’s no carving. If you like a mixture of thighs and drumsticks, the recipes will will work with those, too, just replace half the thighs in any dish with drumsticks.

LISTEN: Diana Henry on Oven Cooking

Ingredients

From the Oven to the Table by Diana Henry

• 1lb small waxy potatoes, scrubbed and quartered

• 2 red onions, halved and cut into wedges

• 1 head of garlic, cloves separated but not peeled

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

• 8 good-sized skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, excess skin neatly trimmed

• finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon, plus juice of 1/2 lemon

• 1/2-2/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

• 2/3 cup dill leaves, torn

• 1 cup Greek yogurt

• 1 tablespoon harissa

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Put the potatoes, onions, garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of the oil, salt, and pepper into a 12in wide shallow casserole or ovenproof sauté pan. Toss everything around with your hands. Put the chicken thighs on top, skin side up. Brush the remaining oil on the chicken and season it.

Roast for 40–45 minutes, or until the chicken is golden and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife.

Squeeze the lemon juice over, then scatter on the zest, feta, and dill.

Put the yogurt into a bowl and spoon the harissa on top. Serve the chicken with the harissa yogurt on the side.