Ahh, Jamie Oliver.
Despite his tendency to stick his foot in his mouth, I am very fond of him, and I always find his recipes wonderfully intuitive and foolproof. His latest cookbook, Save With Jamie, seems particularly good and full of recipes which can easily be adapted to whatever ingredients the reader has on hand…
Our most recent “emergency” dinner was based on his Hit ‘N’ Run Traybaked Chicken, and the philosophy behind the dish is a good one – we all need a recipe that we can mix together quickly and bung into the oven on nights when things get too hard.
We were missing a few fresh ingredients, so substituted items from our pantry. It was a delicious meal, and definitely one we’ll be making again!
- 1.5kg free range chicken thigh fillets
- 1 tin San Marzano tomatoes
- large spoonful of jarred roasted capsicums, well-drained (ours was in strips)
- 2 large Spanish onions, peeled and cut into wedges
- 8 cloves of garlic (ours came straight out of the freezer)
- picked leaves from a few sprigs of thyme
- 2 teaspoons mild Hungarian paprika
- sliced jalapeño chillies, to taste
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Note: the original recipe specified fresh tomatoes and capsicums, but we didn’t have either on hand. It also used two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar which we omitted, as the jarred capsicums and jalapeños (our addition) already had a little vinegar in them.
Drain the tomatoes, saving the juice. Break the larger tomatoes in half. Spread the onions and garlic out on a foil and parchment lined baking tray (foil first, then parchment – we find this minimises washing up), then lay the tomatoes on top. In a separate bowl, mix together the chicken, capsicum, paprika, thyme leaves, jalapeños, olive oil, salt and pepper, then lay it all out over the onions. Drizzle over a little of the reserved tomato juice. Bake in a pre-heated 170C fan-forced oven for about an hour. Stir occasionally and baste with the remaining tomato juice during the cooking time, as needed.
We served this dish with a defrosted sourdough ciabatta loaf (this really was a last minute meal) and freshly made coleslaw, using our sweetheart cabbage and a freshly laid egg. Simple and easy, yet tasty enough to serve to guests!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
This sounds like my kind of chicken! I will go and defrost one of my own pasture raised incredibly tasty chooks, chop it up and give this a try. I like jamie too. My son once worked with him on a set in NZ (as a very young runner, now he is a producer) and Jamie gave him a whisk as a thank you. This was when he called himself the Naked Chef. I didn’t much like him until he was kind to my son. Fickle thy name is mother!! Have a lovely day.. c
Yep, that’s what I like about Jamie. It was kind of him to encourage your son when he was just starting out. That’s all it takes to get us mothers on side! :)
Perfect dinner!
Thanks Tandy! Easy too! x
seems so delicious dear Celia… Thank you, you are amazing as always. Love, nia
Nia, thank you! xx
I like this kind of throw it together sort of meal.. And coleslaw made with sweetheart cabbage? Perfect! Thanks for sharing, Celia!,
Heidi, we’ve made it a couple of times – I keep thigh fillets in the freezer now just for this dish. The boys wolf it down! :)
Awesome recipe, Celia – I love this kind of simple, home cooking, that can be changed around and no matter what you do, turns out soooo delicious!
Sally, I completely agree – it’s nice to know that, so long as I have thigh fillets in the freezer, we can almost always pull this dish out of a hat! :)
no fuss no muss perfect for dinner. thanks for sharing! (mental note: check out Jamie Oliver’s books)
Azita, I really like them! I find that suit the way I cook…
Have made this recipe of Jamie’s three times already, using whatever I have on hand at the time. It comes together so quickly. My family loves it!
Debby, it’s a ripper of a recipe, isn’t it? :)
MMm,..What a very tasty dinner! Yummmm!
Thanks Sophie! xx
Yum, we all need those quick what have we got dinners. I’ve been on the hunt for the Save with Jamie cookbook, as we’ve caught the TV show a couple of times… even the G.O. liked it, and the food. The books have been sold out in the shops, so I’ll go online. Jamie’s focus at the moment seems to be getting people to use the fresh ingredients they buy but I like that the recipes that can be tweaked with pantry ingredients. The coleslaw side sounds great, I’m yet to convert the G.O. to a love of it though but I won’t give up.
ED, it’s available at Costco, and my friend Carol also picked it up at Big W recently for $24. Hope you find a copy, I really like this one (so far the only one I haven’t liked though is his 30 minute meals – the 15 minute meals one was good). Fresh ingredients are great, and we’re very lucky to have a garden, but sometimes it isn’t possible, so it’s nice to find a recipe which is adaptable.. xx
Hi Celia! My mouth actually salivated when you mentioned jarred jalapenos in your dish… I’m absolutely addicted to them!!!!! When I was pregnant, I used to eat them straight from the jar and I still put them on my pizza (is that weird?) I love pickled chili peppers as well :)
I’m so happy that you’re showing us recipes from Jamie’s new book- both your chicken and veggie laksa look delish! He’s all good in my book! xx
Em, the jalapenos are our addition, but they’re really nice in this dish! We buy ours in a giant tin! Here’s a photo.. :)
The Jamie books are great, the Save With Jamie one is a particularly good fit with home cooking!
Oh you are too funny- I would be all over that in a second!! Thanks for sharing! :)
We’re watching that series with great interest also. And his cookery book keeps dropping in price so I’ll wait to buy it … or maybe wait for Christmas. :)
Misky, it’s pretty cheap now in Aus, and I think it’s only UKP9 at the moment on Amazon UK! :)
I’m waiting to buy it at my local supermarket at that price so I can also earn loyalty points for vouchers.
That looks like a great dish. I love oven baked dishes, it feels like the oven does most of the work. GG
GG, you’re so right, once it’s in the oven, we can open the wine! :D
I often throw together a tray baked chook dish – they appeal to my fondness for doing as little as possible and are a great way to use up odds and ends.
Amanda, I’m with you on that one – it’s nice to be able to use up what’s in the fridge with very little aforethought! xx
Looks so delicious and I’m a fan of both Jamie and easy tray bake dinners. Enjoyed his latest Save with Jamie series and you’ve reminded me he did a great, super-quick and healthy ice-cream I’ve been meaning to try – he just blitzed frozen fruit (we have lots of strawberries from summer glut) with greek yoghurt & honey.
Andrea, I saw that one! For some reason they’ve stopped screening the show here – not sure if the series is finished, or the networks are just playing silly buggers.
I bought this book following your recommendation Celia & I don’t buy many cooks books these days! I love it too.
Jane, I’m so glad to hear that! I’ve been thinking of picking up a couple of copies for Christmas presents!
His heart is in the right place Celia, and he’s certainly passionate! I’ve been enjoying his Save With Jamie shows, and this looks amazing indeed xox
Becca, just SO easy. And best of all, no pot or wok to wash up at the end! :)
My kind of recipe. Toss ingredients together, place in the oven, set timer. Got a bit of time to do other chores or chill out. Timer goes off, put dinner on table.
Norma, mine too! Only I’m more likely to pour a glass of wine while it’s cooking rather than do chores! ;-)
I absolutely love Jamie! The more I see of him the more I love him. Such a wonderful inspiration!
Claire, his style of cooking is a good “fit” for us, isn’t it?
This is a favourite with my family, although I try to get thighs with bone in, not often possible and I throw in a breast for the fussy female of the family. I also put a potato/cauliflower cheese bake in the oven (made with stock and cheese) and serve with heaps of green vege. Delicious.
Madge, I’d love to get thighs on the bone, but it doesn’t seem readily available around these parts in free range. That’s the best cut ever for a curry, in my opinion!
I’ve been a fan of Jamie’s since his days as the Naked Chef. There is such an ease about him when he’s at work. Everything seems so effortless and I’ve tried a few of his recipes and never had a problem This recipe sounds like another good one, Celia. I like the changes you made to the recipe. You took advantage of your own pantry without sacrificing any flavor. In fact, I bet you improved the dish. :)
John, I think that’s a good description – it’s the laid back approach that appeals to me too. Apart from one bad incident with sesame snaps (which I think has far more to do with my tense relationship with hot sugar syrup than the instructions), I’ve never had a failure with one of his recipes.
And thank you – not sure if we improved it, maybe complicated it a bit, although I really do like the addition of the chillies! :)
I love Jamie too. I went to one of his live shows once and was thoroughly entertained – he has so much energy! This family meal looks really good and I love how you can be totally casual and just improvise xx
Charlie, his live show would have been interesting! I don’t know how he keeps up the energy levels!
I love the name of this dish & am always looking for something that’s “hit & run”. I don’t think I’ve ever tried any of Jamie Oliver’s recipes but will check them out.
I never thought to freeze garlic – do you peel it first or just freeze the entire bulb?
Di, I find Jamie Oliver recipes very easy and reliable. Re the freezing garlic, here’s a post I wrote about it:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/01/08/frozen-garlic/
We break the bulb into unpeeled cloves and freeze them in an airtight container. They keep well that way for ages. Our local garlic season is so short that this is the only way I can ensure we don’t eat imported garlic!
Hi Celia, I love a tray bake. They are so simple and yet somehow impressive. Most importantly, they are very tasty.
G, you’re so right, they don’t always look the best, but they taste fantastic! And there’s very little washing up! (That’s important! :))
Too right.
I like the idea of the using the San Marzano tomatoes, at this time of year they are more flavorful than fresh. I like every part of this recipe and you can’t go wrong with chicken thighs. Well done.
Judy, we adore San Marzanos in a tin and always keep a supply of them. They’re SO much more flavourful than regular tinned toms!
I don’t think we can have too many ‘throw it together in the oven and substitute what you don’t have’ dishes around.
I always keep chicken thighs in the freezer ~ much tastier than breast!
Lovely recipe to try soon.
Pat, I never buy chicken breast. In our Chinese family as I was growing up, breast meat was always referred to as “stupid meat”, because “only a fool would eat it”. :) When I brought Pete home, my mother was delighted that someone would eat the breast meat, but also slightly worried about it at the same time! :)
I’ll have to make this for my mencats. Jamie is my go-to guy for meat dishes. Since I cook meat but don’t eat it I rely on a decent recipe to come up with something edible for the guys. I also want to try the coleslaw. I always make my mother-in-law’s recipe which is hot water, sugar, salt, celery seed and vinegar. Hugs, Maz.
Maz, it’s a very easy dish – we made it again last night when we had guests over! :)
A great recipe, Celia, thanks for sharing. I’ve got way too many books already.
I know that feeling Lizzy! :)
I have a bit of a soft spot for Jamie, too – and several of my most reliable (can’t be arsed to cook but i must) recipes are his. What a lad! Love the sound of this one. Intrigued, also, by your frozen garlic – do you just freeze some of your abundant harvest as separate cloves? Must give it a try.
Rach, we can’t grow garlic well in Sydney, but we usually buy it from our friends who are growers and freeze it, broken up into unpeeled cloves. Lasts us all year that way, and we don’t have to use imported garlic. Here’s the post I wrote on it a couple of years ago:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/01/08/frozen-garlic/
I’ve heard good things about this book. My only gripe with Jamie these days is that so much is meat-based and with a vege daughter it doesn’t give me much scope. Is this book any different?
Sally, nope, still mostly meat based. Having said that, have you bought Hugh FW’s River Cottage Everyday Veg? It’s the best EASY vegetarian cookbook I’ve come across, tons of really good recipes in there. Ottolenghi’s Plenty is great too, but all the recipes are quite involved, Hugh’s ones are great for midweek dinners.
Just got this book too – better get I won it so it didn’t cost me a cent. I haven’t looked through the whole thing yet, but like they style, very flexible. I made the minestrone, adjusting the veg for what’s in season – delicious and very rustic. Nice with the sourdough bread I’ve been having so much fun making.