Nigella Lawson's chicken and sausage traybake is a one-pan meal designed for easy midweek dinners. The recipe combines chicken, sausages, and a sage-and-onion flavoured marinade in a single roasting tin.
What is in the traybake?
The dish uses one large onion, 125ml of olive oil, two teaspoons of English mustard, one tablespoon of dried sage, pepper, one lemon, one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, two kilograms of chicken jointed into 10 pieces, and 12 sausages. It is finished with two tablespoons of chopped fresh sage.
According to the recipe notes, the idea came from wanting to marinate and cook chicken with the flavours of a traditional sage-and-onion stuffing. Onion, mustard, sage, and lemon infuse the jointed bird, and sausages cook alongside the pieces in one big pan. The chicken can be substituted with 10 bone-in, skin-on thigh pieces.
How to prepare and cook
The onion is peeled and cut into eighths, then placed in a freezer bag with the oil, mustard, dried sage, pepper, lemon juice, squeezed-out husks cut into eighths, and Worcestershire sauce. Everything is squished together to mix, then the chicken pieces are added. The mixture should marinate in the fridge overnight or for up to two days.
Before cooking, the oven is preheated to 220C/200C, and the chicken is allowed to come to room temperature in its marinade. The chicken pieces are arranged in a deep roasting tin, skin-side up, with the marinade and all its bits, and the sausages are tucked around them.
Cooking time and serving
Fresh sage leaves are sprinkled over the chicken and sausages, and the tin is cooked for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Fan ovens may cook it a little quicker, so it is advised to check after one hour. The sausages should be turned over halfway through to colour them evenly.
The chicken and sausages are arranged on a large platter and served. The recipe is not advisable to make in advance. Leftovers should be covered and refrigerated as soon as possible and within two hours of cooking.
Nigella also reminds cooks to use a high-sided roasting tin rather than a shallow one, as this lets the chicken and sausages cook more evenly.
