No one wants to spend hours slaving in the kitchen when the weather heats up, as it’s no fun standing over a hot stove. Traybakes offer an easy solution, allowing you to put everything on one tray and just pop it in the oven, leaving you to sit back, relax and enjoy the sunshine.
Easy to prepare
Because everything is cooked in one tray, it makes it easy to prepare in advance. You can chop ingredients and add them to a tray in advance, then cover and store in the fridge. Later in the day, everything is done, already in the tray for you to pop straight into the oven.
The oven does the work
Traybakes are not the quickest dishes to cook. However, with temperatures above average this summer, recipes like these are ideal. This is because, apart from the occasional check, they leave you free to return outside to enjoy the glorious weather.
Ensure you have a large tray for cooking, or you can use several smaller trays. Alternatively, ovenable trays, such as those found at //www.southerncrosspackaging.com/ovenable-trays, are ideal.
Chicken and Chorizo Traybake
8 chicken thighs 80g/3oz sliced chorizo 2 onions 2 red peppers, 1 yellow pepper 8 large tomatoes 400g tin cannellini beans 4 crushed garlic cloves, bashed 2 sprigs rosemary 1 tsp sea salt freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsp olive oil
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Quarter the onions, peppers and tomatoes and slice the chorizo. Then drain, rinse and add the beans.
Add the above, along with the rosemary and garlic, to a large roasting tray. Top with the chicken, then drizzle with oil and add the salt and pepper.
Roast for 1 hour, or until the chicken is cooked through. Pierce the thickest part of the chicken with a skewer to check if the juices run clear.
Recipes like the above are flexible and adaptable. Don’t have any Rosemary? Add some thyme or oregano instead. Not enough peppers? Add any vegetables you do have. Then leave the oven to do the work.