Kerrie Maloney: Chicken and Sausage Potato Bake

This is the sort of thing I cook when I need something that will serve lots of people, has virtually no preparation and can be left in the oven to cook, leaving me free to do something else - like make a dessert or fabulous warm vegetable salad to go with it. I have posted a similar recipe here. This version uses chicken thighs and due to some unexpected guests has sausages from the freezer. If I am freezing sausages I tend to poach them and then freeze them.

This is a very forgiving recipe. The point of this dish is that you can substitute meats, change the vegetables, adjust the oven temperature to reduce/increasecooking times. Make it for one or twenty just follow the idea.

Chicken and Sausage Potato Bake

chicken thigh fillets, cut into two. Allow ½ - 1 per person

good quality sausages, I used pork and fennel, allow ½ -1 per person

1 potato per person, washed and sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

generous pinch of chilli flakes

freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup chicken stock/ wine /water

sprigs of fresh thyme

Method

Mix potato, onion, garlic, chilli flakes, pepper and a little salt together. Spread over the base of the baking/casserole dish. Pour over the liquid.

Top with the chicken pieces and place in 180 deg oven to cook.

Poach the sausages in simmering water. This will set the meat and allow you to cut the sausages diagonally in two. Omit this step and add them whole if desired.

After 30 minutes add the sausages and if using, a few sprig s of thyme to the chicken dish. Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until sausages and chicken are cooked through and potatoes are soft.