Tuscan Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Capers

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin on
• salt and black pepper
• 200 ml chicken stock
• 80 g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped, oil reserved
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 100 g baby spinach
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 2 tbsp capers, rinsed
• polenta, pasta or bread, to serve

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the reserved sun-dried tomato oil in a large, wide casserole over medium-high heat. Pat the chicken thighs dry with kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no browning — then season generously with salt and black pepper on both sides.
2. Lay the thighs skin-side down in a single layer with space between each one. Work in two batches if your pan is tight; crowd the pan and the skin steams instead of crisping. Leave undisturbed for 7 minutes until the skin is deep mahogany and releases cleanly from the pan, then flip and brown for a further 2 minutes. Lift out and rest on a plate.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Tip the onion into the fat and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and translucent at the edges. Add the sliced garlic and rosemary sprig and cook for just 30 seconds, until fragrant and pale gold — don't let the garlic colour past that or the whole sauce turns bitter.
4. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and capers. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble hard for 2 minutes, scraping up the sticky brown fond from the base of the pan — that's where the depth lives.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock. The stock is doing real work here: it breaks the tinned tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit instead of heated tin. Stir, bring to a gentle simmer, then nestle the thighs back in skin-side up, keeping the crisp skin proud of the liquid. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
6. Lift the lid and cook for a further 8–10 minutes until the sauce has reduced to a glossy coating that clings to the back of a spoon and the skin has re-crisped on top.
7. Fish out the rosemary sprig. Stir the baby spinach through the sauce a handful at a time until just wilted and bright green. Taste the sauce now — capers and sun-dried tomatoes carry a lot of salt, so adjust with pepper and a final pinch of salt only if it needs it. Adjust now, not at the table.
8. Spoon the chicken and sauce over polenta, pasta or alongside crusty bread, drizzle each plate with extra virgin olive oil, and scatter the torn basil over the top.