Roast Chicken with Sumac, Onions and Pine Nuts Recipe

Mouthwatering roast chicken, combined with lemony sumac, onions and pine nuts. The Lebanese inspired recipe is an alternative to classic roast chicken dishes.

Chicken roasted with sumac is Lebanese in origin. Sumac is a red powder ground from a berry and is lemony in flavour.

Serves 4   Easy

Ingredients

4 tbsp olive oil
1 medium organic or free-range chicken (1.5-1.7kg), jointed into 8 pieces (leave the skin on)
6 small new season’s onions whole, (or 12 spring onions), sliced in 2cm lengths
2 tbsp sumac
50g pine nuts
3 tbsp water

Essential kit

You will need a wide (30cm) ovenproof frying pan.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a wide (30cm) ovenproof frying pan over a medium-high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown them thoroughly on all sides, skin-side first.

Remove the chicken from the pan and pour off the fat. Put the onions in the still-hot pan and sprinkle with half the sumac, the remaining tablespoon of oil and some salt and pepper.

Arrange the pieces of chicken on top, skin-side up, and sprinkle with the pine nuts and the remaining sumac.

Put the pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes to get the onions going, then transfer to the oven. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked.

Transfer the chicken to a serving dish, add the water to the onions to make a chunky sauce, and pour it over the chicken.