Saffron chicken and chickpea tray bake

This is the dinner I make when I want the kitchen to smell like my grandmother's house in Valencia, but I only have forty minutes and one clean tray. Chicken thighs, chickpeas, red onion and lemon, all roasted together with a pinch of saffron until the edges go crisp and golden. It is almost no work, and it tastes like you tried very hard.

Why saffron is worth it

Saffron has a reputation for being expensive and fussy, and it is true that a small jar costs more than most spices. But you use so little that a jar lasts months. A good pinch, about twenty threads, is enough to colour and flavour a whole tray for four people.

The trick is to wake it up first. Crumble the threads into a couple of spoonfuls of warm water and leave them for ten minutes while you chop everything else. The water turns a deep orange, and when you pour it over the tray, the colour and that honey-like, slightly floral flavour spread through everything.

Treat saffron like a good friend: a little attention at the start, and it looks after you all evening.

Rosa Delgado

The chickpeas are the best part

I started adding chickpeas to this tray years ago to make the chicken go further, and now everyone at my table fights over them. They roast in the chicken juices and the olive oil, and some of them go crisp like little croutons while others stay soft. Drain them well and pat them dry before they go in, otherwise they steam instead of crisping.

Make it yours

This recipe is a template more than a rule. Swap the thighs for drumsticks, or use cauliflower and extra chickpeas for a vegetarian version. Add a handful of olives in the last ten minutes, or scatter over some chopped parsley and toasted almonds at the end. What matters is the high oven, the single tray and the saffron water.

A dish from my grandmother's kitchen

My grandmother never measured anything. She cooked by colour and smell, and her chicken was done when the kitchen smelled of toasted paprika and the skin crackled when she tapped it with a spoon. She roasted everything in a battered enamel tray that went black years before I was born. When she passed it on to me, I cried a little, and then I cooked this.

Her version took most of an afternoon: chicken browned in batches, onions cooked slowly in the fat, rice added at the end. Mine is a weeknight shortcut, but the flavours are hers. The saffron, the paprika, the lemon and the crisp skin are all there, and so, I like to think, is some of her patience.

Before you start

• Take the chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking so it roasts evenly.
• Use the largest tray you have. Crowded chicken steams instead of crisping.
• Pat the chicken skin dry with kitchen paper. Dry skin is crisp skin.
• If your oven runs hot, move the tray to a lower shelf for the last 10 minutes.

Ingredients

Serves 4 · Prep 15 min · Cook 40 min · Level Easy

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin on
• 2 tins chickpeas (400 g each), drained and patted dry
• 2 red onions, cut into wedges
• 1 lemon, halved
• 20 saffron threads
• 3 tbsp warm water
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 tsp flaky salt
• 1 small bunch parsley, chopped

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan). Crumble the saffron into the warm water and leave it to soak for 10 minutes.
2. In a large roasting tray, toss the chickpeas and onion wedges with half the olive oil, the paprika, cumin and a pinch of salt.
3. Rub the chicken thighs with the remaining oil and season well. Nestle them skin side up among the chickpeas.
4. Add the garlic cloves and the lemon halves, cut side up, to the tray.
5. Pour the saffron water evenly over everything, especially the chicken skin.
6. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken skin is deep golden and the juices run clear.
7. Rest the tray for 5 minutes. Squeeze the roasted lemon over everything and scatter with parsley.

Serving ideas

I serve this straight from the tray, in the middle of the table, with a big green salad and some bread for the juices. Leftovers are excellent cold the next day, stuffed into a flatbread with a spoonful of yogurt. If you have any saffron water left over, stir it into the yogurt. It turns it a beautiful pale gold.

Common questions