Roast chicken with spring vegetables and mascarpone sauce

A super one-pan meal that’s colourful and nutritious!

I am a huge fan of roast chicken but sometimes find that preparing a whole bird – especially for just two people – is a larger amount of food than I want. Roasting chicken thighs is a great way to enjoy all the delicious flavours, in a simple format. You can easily vary the vegetables in this dish – asparagus or baby carrots would be great swaps. For other one-pan roast chicken meals, this one with cherry tomatoes and garlic is fantastic; if you are looking for ideas on how to roast whole chickens, I suggest you check out this terrific Bundt pan method or this Dutch oven method.

Ingredients

• 4-6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
• 2/3 cup (150g) mascarpone or cream cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon (2.7 g) fresh thyme leaves, divided
• Zest of one fresh lemon
• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) olive oil, divided
• 1 1/4 pounds (690 g) new potatoes, in 1.5 inch (4 cm) pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, halved if large
• 5 oz radishes (145 g) radishes, halved if large (about 8)
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and cut into 3 inch (7.5 cm) pieces
• 2 cups (125 g) sugar snap peas, trimmed
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) chicken stock
• Juice of one fresh lemon, to serve

Method

• Heat the oven to 400F. Place chicken in a large baking dish or oven-safe skillet (big enough to hold it and the vegetables).
• Mash together 2 tablespoons (12 g) of the mascarpone with the lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon (1.35 g) of the thyme leaves and a few grinds each of salt and pepper. Slip your fingers beneath the chicken skin to pull it away from the meat, then spread the mixture beneath the skin in a thin layer. Pat skin down to adhere to cheese mixture.
• Drizzle a little of the olive oil over the chicken pieces and rub into the skin then season chicken with sea salt and a little pepper.
• Place prepared potatoes and garlic in a bowl and drizzle those with a little more of the olive oil. Toss to coat then add to the pan with the chicken. Place the pan in the oven for 40 minutes.
• Place the radishes, spring onions and snap peas in the bowl you used to toss the potatoes and garlic. Drizzle with a little olive oil then add to the pan. Roast for another 20 – 25 minutes until chicken thighs register 165F at their thickest point and potatoes are golden brown and tender.
• While chicken and vegetables cook, whisk together remaining mascarpone, thyme leaves and chicken stock until smooth.
• Once chicken is cooked, remove from pan. Drizzle the mascarpone and stock mixture around the vegetables. Return the chicken to the pan then place pan back in the oven for 5 – 7 minutes to heat the sauce, stirring once or twice.
• Return the chicken pieces to the pan. Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice over the chicken and vegetables. Serve hot.  

Serves 3 – 4.