Chicken & Pancetta Bake

Recently, the weather has really started to pick up; the skies are intensely blue and the sun is shining down. It's times like these that I really appreciate living just a 5 minute walk to the coast, where I can go for a relaxing stroll - it almost feels like I'm on holiday sometimes. Feeling inspired by the almost-Mediterranean climate, I wanted to create a meal that mirrored it. 

This is a really easy 'one-pot' style meal that you can play around with and experiment. I've kept this fairly simple and used my own pancetta, but you could by adding a splash of white wine or balsamic vinegar, throwing in a squeeze of lemon juice, or scattering a handful of olives.

Serves 2-3

6 chicken thighs

100g pancetta, diced

125g cherry tomatoes

2-3tbsp olive oil

3tsp dried herbs, such as basil, thyme, mint.

Salt and pepper

Rice or bread, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C.

This is pretty simple - add all the ingredients (except the rice or bread, obviously) to a baking dish, then get your hands in and make sure everything is coated with the oil and seasonings. 

When that's done, try and arrange it so there are no pancetta pieces or tomatoes under the chicken thighs. Then bake for 1hr to 1hr 30mins, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crispy.

Serve with the rice or bread.