Roast chicken with pumpkin and savory

Oven-baked chicken with pumpkin is a tray of drumsticks, pumpkin and red onion that doesn't need constant attention. As the skin of the drumsticks renders, the fat drips onto the pumpkin and caramelises its edges. Seasonal pumpkin is sweet and dense, so you need neither sugar nor honey.

Ingredients

Method

1. Heat the oven

   Set the oven to 200°C, or 190°C if it is a fan oven. Use a tray of about 30 by 40 cm so the food isn't piled on top of itself.

2. Rub the drumsticks

   Crush 2 cloves of garlic and mix them with 2 tbsp oil, the paprika, the savory, 1 tsp salt and the black pepper. Rub the mix over the drumsticks and under the skin. Leave them to sit while you cut the vegetables.

3. Cut the vegetables

   Cut the pumpkin into cubes about 3 cm across so they roast evenly. Peel the onions and cut them into eighths.

4. Fill the tray

   Put the pumpkin and onion in the tray, sprinkle with the remaining ½ tsp salt, drizzle with 1 tbsp oil and toss. Add the 2 unpeeled cloves of garlic and set the drumsticks on top, skin side up. Pour the water in at the edge of the tray, not over the skin.

5. Roast at 200°C

   Roast the tray for 25 minutes, until the skin starts to turn red and the fat drips onto the pumpkin.

6. Turn down and stir

   Take out the tray, turn the pumpkin pieces with a spoon and lower the oven to 180°C. Roast for another 30 minutes, until a thermometer in the thickest part of a drumstick reads 80°C and the pumpkin is easy to pierce.

   If the edges of the pumpkin are still pale, turn on the grill for the last 3 minutes and don't walk away from the oven.

7. Rest and serve

   Leave the tray out of the oven for 5 minutes so the juices settle. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, then mash the roasted garlic with a fork and spread it over the pumpkin.

How to serve

Serve with yogurt mixed with crushed garlic, or with a fresh cabbage and lemon salad.

Per serving (approx.): 540 kcal · protein 36 g · fat 36 g · carbohydrates 18 g