Sheet Pan Chicken with Olives, Lemon, Capers & Pecorino
September 26, 2017
ceramic platter from Fifty One and a Half
I love cooking things in the oven on sheet pans lined with foil. Such easy cleanup! In this dish, I've combined a few of the flavors I love together to make a chicken dish that is so easy to make with minimal clean up.
In this recipe, you first rub chicken parts with some seasoning and then roast them along with really good green olives, lemon and capers. The olives I'm using are called Castelvetrano olives - do not swap them for Spanish olives! They are totally different. If you've never had a Castelvetrano olive, please get a jar and try them now. They are not hard to find. The olives are from Sicily and are meaty and delicious. In Italy, they are served atop salads frequently and are used as a great snacking olive for antipasti. They pair beautifully with lemon and capers. I have used them whole in this dish but if you want to pit them, it's easy to do. Just lay them on a cutting board and, using the side of a wide knife, smash them a bit - the pit comes right out.
I love lemon and capers together. Be sure to only buy small capers packed in salt. Just give them a quick rinse. They add a nice little bite to food.
I like using bone in, skin on chicken. The chicken has more flavor. You can use any combination of chicken parts you like, of course. If you want to add chicken wings to the dish, add them halfway through the cooking time - they are going to cook quicker than other parts. Also, if you are combining dark meat and white meat be sure to see if the chicken breasts are on the thin side or thick side. If they are very thick, you can add them along with the dark meat but if they are thinner, don't cook them the whole time because they also will cook faster.
Hope you enjoy.
Thanks for dropping by!
Elaine
Chicken with Olives, Lemon & Capers
for a printable recipe, click here
serves 4-6
How long to cook the chicken will depend on the size of your parts and if you are cooking dark or white meat. Be sure to check for doneness as you go, after about 30 minutes of cooking time, so you don't overcook the chicken.
Rub:
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2½ pounds of chicken (any parts you like)
1 large red onion, cut into 8 wedges
2 lemons, zested and sliced
15 Castelvetrano olives
1 Tablespoon capers in salt, rinsed
4 garlic cloves, skin removed and cloves smashed (use the side of a knife)
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tablespoons finely chopped parsley
¼ cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty foil. Lightly spray with cooking spray. Mix rub ingredients together in a small bowl.
Place chicken pieces on the baking sheet and toss generously with the rub, coating all sides. Add the onion wedges, lemon slices, olives and capers. Add the lemon zest to the chicken broth and heat in microwave. Stir. Set aside.
Roast the chicken for 15 minutes until skin is lightly brown. Reduce heat to 375°F. Add the chicken broth to pan and roast for 15 minutes more. Flip chicken over, coating the chicken with the lemon broth. (Start testing for doneness). Roast another 15 minutes. Flip chicken again and roast about another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (you can pierce a piece and make sure juices run clear).
Remove chicken, onions, lemon slices and olives to a platter. Discard garlic. Lightly tent with foil to keep warm. Transfer the liquid in the baking sheet to a small saucepan and boil vigorously for about 5 - 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Drizzle over the chicken. Sprinkle with the parsley and Pecorino cheese.
Reader Comments (15)
Nutrition values? Love the recipe but I'm a stroke victim.
Yum...can't wait to try this one!
Why discard the garlic? Wouldn't it be cooked and sweet?
Sounds delish! We have a wonderful market here in Eugene, OR, that carries these olives in the olive bar and they are, as you say, "meaty." Will enjoy using them in this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Where do you find the olives in your/my area?
In response to Terri: Market of Choice usually has them in their salad bar. Also, Elaine mentioned Whole Foods which we have here in Eugene. I just prefer to patronize local businesses when I can.
From The Italian Dish:
Jim: Sorry, but I have no way to give you nutrition values on this dish.
Zoe's Mom: The garlic is discarded because they are just smashed cloves for flavor. There are a lot of people who don't want to bite into a large clove of garlic. You can certainly keep them in if you want, though! Or grate the garlic before cooking instead of using whole cloves.
Terri: My local Meijer and Kroger both have had them, usually the jarred Mezetta brand. They are very good.
This is on the MUST TRY list!!!
Tried this last night. Great recipe, but for us was salt overload...even with reduced sodium Chicken Broth.
Jim, in order to cut down on fat and salt, you could roast the chicken with skin on and then pull it off when eating to cut down on fat. (Do not boil down the liquids to use the chicken juices.) The onions, garlic and olives are heart healthy as well as immune system builders. I would worry about salt in the olives, though; rinse them. Don't add the 1 t. salt (what is salt substitute?) The pecorino has salt. Could you use just a bit to get the flavor you need? I hope this helps. I am not a nutritionist, but this is what I do when I create meals for different nutritional needs. Good luck!
Im making this tonight !
Can you suggest a side to go with this dish?
From The Italian Dish:
Jan: I don't feel the dish is overly salty at all, but if you feel that way you can omit the salt in the rub. You can also omit the Pecorino, which is a bit salty.
Beverly: Any nice green vegetable would make a great side dish and you can also serve it with pasta or risotto.
This was wonderful, my husband loved it and we were so glad for leftovers. I did use the broiler at the end to brown my chicken for 5 minutes.
I served it over a little brown rice but next time I might use farro
This really looks good Elaine and I bet it also tastes awesome! Thanks for sharing definitely gonna try this at home.
The lemons are really what make this dish exquisite.