Jamie’s Tender and Crisp Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes

Serves 4

4 chicken legs, jointed (I like to use marylands because then you get the fleshy bit and the leg. don’t use breast - it’s not strong enough)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
a big bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
2 big handfuls of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved; and ripe plum tomatoes, quartered (2 punnets if just cherrys)
1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
olive oil
1 x 410g tin of cannelini beans, drained

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (350 F).

Season your chicken pieces all over and put them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer. Throw in all the basil leaves and stalks, and chuck in your tomatoes, and drained beans.

Scatter the garlic cloves into the pan with the chopped chilli and drizzle over some olive oil.

Mix around a bit, pushing the ingredients underneath and the skin facing upwards.
Place in the oven for 1.5 hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through, until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat falls off the bone.
Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving.

Grulover comment
This is a fantastic recipe, taken from Jamie Oliver’s book, Jamie’s Dinners. It is so easy and great to make if you have guests because it is always a winner. It literally takes minutes to put together, but requires slow, gentle cooking.
If you prefer you can make it into a pasta dish - simply remove the meat from the bone and then toss it through a bowl of spaghetti.