Recipe of the week: chicken, pineapple and ’nduja bake 

I love the combination of sweet and savoury, says Ixta Belfrage, and there is no greater union than that of pork and pineapple. The pork here comes in the form of ’nduja, a spreadable chilli-spiked sausage from Calabria. Add chicken, pineapple, chipotle and tangerine to the mix and you’ve got yourself a party.

Ingredients: Serves 4

• 4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, at room temperature
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with the side of a knife
• 1 medium onion, halved and very thinly sliced on a mandolin
• ½ a large, extra-ripe pineapple, peeled (300g)
• 4 sweet tangerines (or 2 oranges), squeezed to get 100g juice (see notes)
• 100g chicken bone broth, stock or water
• 2 tbsp double cream
• 5g fresh coriander
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• for the ’nduja and chipotle paste: 50g ’nduja paste/spread
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp tomato purée/paste
• ½ tsp chipotle flakes
• ½ tsp paprika
• ¾ tsp fine salt
• about 20 twists of freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C.
• Put all the ingredients for the paste into a large bowl and mix. Add the chicken, garlic and three-quarters of the onion and mix well so everything is coated evenly. Tip this into a 28cm ovenproof cast iron skillet or similar-sized baking dish and spread out. Organise the chicken thighs on top, skin-side up and spaced apart.
• Cut the pineapple into 4 rounds, then cut each round into quarters, removing the hard core (you should have about 300g). Add the pineapple to the bowl with the remnants of the paste, mix to coat with whatever is left there, then arrange the pineapple around the chicken.
• Pour the tangerine juice around the chicken (don’t get the skin wet), then bake for 20mins. Remove from the oven and pour the stock or water into the pan around the chicken (again, don’t get the skin wet). Return to the oven for another 20-25mins, or until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is browned and crispy. If you have a blowtorch, use it to char the pineapple a little.
• Drizzle the cream into the sauce. Toss the coriander and the remaining onions together with a tiny bit of oil and salt and arrange on top. Serve from the pan, with the lime wedges alongside.
• Notes: I use tangerines over oranges as they have a more complex flavour, but oranges can be used if easier (use fresh fruit, though, not juice from a carton). If your tangerines/oranges aren’t particularly sweet, you may want to add some maple syrup or honey – do this when you add the stock or water.

Taken from Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage, published by Ebury Press at £26. Photography by Yuki Sugiura. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £20.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk

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