Ras el hanout chicken thighs with baked feta and shaved fennel

In this recipe I have used a dry rub option on chicken thighs, cooked in the oven until tender and humming with spice.

Credit: Donal's Meals in Minutes

• serves

  2

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Chicken

• 4 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
• 2 red onions, sliced in quarters, roots intact
• 1-2 tbsp canola (rapeseed) oil
• 1½ tbsp ras el hanout
• 200 g pack feta
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Sea salt and ground black pepper

Salad

• 3 tsp (15 ml)  extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted
• 1 head fennel, shaved on a mandolin
• Handful of mint, to garnish

Handful of coriander, to garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C/400°F/GasMark 6.
2. Place the chicken thighs and red onion on a large flat low sided baking tin and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle on the ras el hanout and season generously with sea salt and ground black pepper.
3. Place in the oven to roast for 35 minutes. When crispy and almost cooked through, remove the roasting tin from the oven and break the feta into four chunky pieces around the sides of the chicken. Drizzle with a little extra oil and sprinkle with chilli flakes and dried oregano.
4. Place back in the oven to bake for a further 10 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked through. Combine all the ingredients for the salad and serve alongside the chicken and feta.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.