Use a big roasting tin to cook this – an old bashed one is great – and take it to the table. This is casual eating at its very best, so I don’t bother to transfer the food to a platter. Quinoa and a big salad of Romaine leaves and avocado are great on the side.
The pepita pesto – stir the crumbled feta into it rather than sprinkling it on top if you prefer – is good with plain roast or griddled chicken as well.
Mexican chicken and pumpkin with pepita pesto
Use a big roasting tin to cook this – an old bashed one is great – and take it to the table. This is casual eating at its very best, so I don’t bother to transfer the food to a platter. Quinoa and a big salad of Romaine leaves and avocado are great on the side.
The pepita pesto – stir the crumbled feta into it rather than sprinkling it on top if you prefer – is good with plain roast or griddled chicken as well.
Ingredients
FOR THE CHICKEN AND PUMPKIN
- 8 skin-on bone-in chicken joints or thighs
- 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar
- leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
- 3 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground allspice
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- juice of 1 lime
- juice of ½ orange
- salt and pepper
- 900 g 2lb well-flavoured pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into thick wedges
- 60 g 2oz feta cheese, finely crumbled, to serve
FOR THE PESTO
- 20 g ¾oz pumpkin seeds
- 60 g 2oz sprigs of coriander, plus more to serve
- 20 g ¾oz cashew nuts
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- juice of 1½ limes
- 125 ml 4fl oz extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red chilli halved, deseeded and finely chopped, plus more to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Put the chicken in a shallow dish.
- Mix together the sugar, thyme, oregano, spices, 4 tbsp of the regular oil, both the citrus juices and salt and pepper and pour this marinade over the chicken.
- Turn the chicken round to coat well, then cover and marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours.
- Bring it to room temperature before you cook it.
- For the pesto, put the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan and place over a medium heat.
- Stir for a couple of minutes, or until they turn a shade darker and smell a little toasted (this method also works for spice seeds and nuts).
- Put in a food processor with all the other ingredients except the chilli.
- Blend to a rough purée.
- Scrape into a bowl, stir in the chilli and set aside until you want to use it.
- When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
- Transfer the chicken, skin side up, to a roasting tin or a large, broad, shallow ovenproof dish.
- Dot the pumpkin wedges around the chicken.
- Brush the pumpkin with the remaining 2 tbsp of regular oil and season.
- Put into the hot oven and cook for 40 minutes, basting every so often.
- Check the flesh of the chicken to see whether it’s cooked or not: if you stick the tip of a sharp knife into the underside of a thick joint, the juice that runs out should be clear with no trace of pink.
- Serve with some pesto spooned over (offer the rest on the side) and scatter with crumbled feta and sprigs of coriander and some more chilli, if you want.