Roasted chicken with fresh Cherry tomatoes and basil

For the quickest and simplest meals, choose a few good fresh ingredients and let them sing. This is basically just tomatoes, garlic and basil to create a total flavour sensation. We loved using the Ondine cookware for this recipe but you can choose any bakeware / ceramic dish. What we particularly like is that you can take the cookware straight from the oven to the table and it retains the heat so you can serve it without the chicken going cold.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts, halved to create thinner pieces
• 300g cherry tomatoes
• 4-5 cloves garlic, squashed
• Fresh oregano leaves, or 1 tbsp dried if fresh not available 
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3-4 tablespoons Bomba! tomato puree
• Optional: fennel, peppers, onions
• Fresh basil, for garnish
• Salt & Pepper 
• Extra virgin olive oil 

method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan-assisted), 220°C static. If using a Gaggenau oven, use the circulated air + full surface grill setting on 200°C.
2. In a large roasting ceramic dish or bakeware, arrange the halved chicken breasts, ensuring they are uniform in size.
3. Add the cherry tomatoes and squashed garlic cloves around the chicken and under.
4. Sprinkle fresh oregano leaves over the chicken and season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle with 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. 
5. If desired, add additional vegetables such as fennel, peppers, or onions to the dish too. 
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. 
7. Remove the bakeware from the oven and switch the oven to grill mode. Using tongs, decant the chicken pieces to a plate. Remove the garlic skins and bash up the garlic pieces – they will be soft and sludgy by now. Stir in the Bomba! tomato puree, allowing it to mix with the juices released from the chicken and the tomatoes. If there is not much liquid add some boiling water – around 50ml. Once combined, pop the chicken back on top and place it back in the oven under the grill for 3-5 minutes until nicely browned.
8. Remove from the heat and add the chopped basil over the top. Enjoy! 

NB: This is a dairy free recipe but if you’d like to add mozzarella and parmesan to the chicken when you place it under the grill this would be really delicious too.

Images: HM